Jack Sparrow's Taste of the Future
by You Don't But Thanks Anyway
Summary: **Wrote this when I was 12. Don't judge.** 3 teenage girls get pulled into the movie Pirates of the Caribbean and go on an adventure. Jack Sparrow finds himself attached to one in particular.
1. The Big Screen

_I don't own any of the characters from Pirates of the Caribbean. The movie and all the characters belong to Disney. Even Jack Sparrow. . . I own nothing, no one, just this story._

**Pirates of the Caribbean: Jack Sparrow's Taste of the Future**

**Chapter One**

Ariana loved movies. Her father, who owned the local movie theater, had raised her. Since eight years old she had known how movie reels worked, how film transferred onto a screen; and when no one was at the theater, her father would let her put on any movie she wanted. She had grown up around all types of movies; by age ten she had figure out that adventure was her favorite. She craved it; she began dreaming of living those adventures, braving those battles, possessing that strength. Breaking out of reality, the normal life she was accustomed to and bored with: being free. It attracted her. She had piles of short stories she had written as a child centered around those kinds of stories, with her as the heroine. Once she got older she began on small novels, always with the same yearning for that freedom those characters on that screen seemed to boast. It was a world that was not possible for her. A world of independence, a life that existed within her mind.

She could easily remember the day she first saw the movie; her father had received the film before it was actually set to be released to the public, and he had let her watch it before everyone else. She remembered how hot it had been outside, and how empty the theater was, and most of all: how entranced she became. If ever she could depict the perfect movie, that would be it. She watched it again and again to live the adventure through the movie. It was her way of experiencing it, to enlarge the world inside her mind, allow it to grow and encompass her. Even when she wasn't watching it she was dreaming of how it would feel to be in one of those characters' shoes, to have that kind of adventure.

It was a late Thursday morning, the last day of July, around 11:00. Ariana and her two best friends, Kelsey and Julie, entered the theater to watch the movie yet again. Her father had given all the staff a day off with pay and closed the theater, giving her the key so that they could come watch it without interruption or distraction; he rarely did this, but he knew what it meant to her.

Once the movie started she was gone, somewhere completely separate from her friends. She leaned forward, not thinking.

She was leaning forward too much – at least that's what I felt like. No, she was falling. . . She wasn't falling, she was in her chair. No, she was being pulled forward, out of her chair. . . Her feet were leaving the ground; it was falling away from her. And the movie screen was coming closer, growing larger.

She was staring at the screen in shock; it was the only emotion that registered. It quickly dissipated into a calm feeling, and she relaxed, allowing the strange sensation to simply pull her steadily toward the screen, which was dangerously close now. She shouldn't do anything. . . That's how she felt. She shouldn't be alarmed. She should just let it happen. . . She couldn't move her limbs.

The feeling stopped. The screen stopped flying at her. She stopped feeling as if she was soaring through the air. It all stopped and she could feel the ground beneath her feet again.

She looked down to see not the slick black floor of the movie theater, but a wooden deck beneath her feet.

She raised her head up to look around and the first thing that caught her eye was the deep blue of the ocean that seemed to surround her, twinkling under the sunlight. She saw a wooden railing, and turned to see the huge mast of a ship that climbed up into the vast, light blue sky. Attached were huge, billowing white sails. She gazed up for a few moments, trying to make sense of what she was seeing.

It was then that she felt the gentle swaying and began hearing the waves splashing up against the sides of something and knew that she was no longer in the movie theater.

She was on a ship. Most likely, a pirate ship, considering that she apparently had been sucked into the movie.

She had been pulled into a movie.

The words repeated themselves in her head continuously until slowly but surely, the realization sank in. She found that part of her wasn't frightened; she was content, even thrilled that she was, indeed, in the one movie she had found more freedom in than anything in her seventeen years of life. But there was another part of her that felt terrified for her life, wondering how this had happened; knowing that something had to be behind it.

But wait. . . Something was off here. . .

She looked up again at the sails.

They were white.

White, not black.

This was not the Black Pearl. This was not any ship from the movie, unless it was a Navy ship. This was a ship she had never seen before.

Her attention was taken up by a series of whistles and she turned to the deck.

There was an entire crew of men gathered in front of her – they were all either losing their hair or teeth, covered in layers of grime and dirt, and completely revolting. They were all, as well, looking in her direction, obviously interested. She felt the urge to gag.

There were suggestive grins all around, some chuckling to themselves.

"Would you ladies like to come with me for a bit?" one said.

Ladies? So she wasn't here alone. . . Kelsey and Julie. Of course. She had forgotten all about them in her bewilderment. They must have been sucked into the movie with her. She looked to her right and found Julie – she located Kelsey on her right. She hadn't even noticed them.

Both of them were stunned beyond belief, but as soon as they heard what the pirate said, they took on looks of disgust and backed away together. Ariana followed suite – she didn't want to be anywhere near these. . .men.

She backed up right into something large. She immediately hurried forward, away from it, and whipped around to see what it was as Kelsey and Julie looked also.

It was another pirate. Only this one looked a little different from the rest – a more elaborate outfit, with a huge black hat. He seemed maybe in his forties or fifties, with a good number of wrinkles and a stomach on its way to becoming plump. He wore large black boots, a brownish-black belt with numerous holders which housed a gun or two and a few daggers, and a white button-up shirt with a brown sort of trench coat that reached almost to the back of his knees and boasting innumerable pockets. It was open in the front, large yellow buttons sewed up along it.

He was the captain.

"Aye, I see it worked," he said, grinning and showing off a mouth full of gray, rotting teeth.

What was he glad about? Ariana wanted to question him, but chose not to.

"Men, take these lasses into me quarters so's I can 'ave a word," he told his crew, and Ariana heard the men coming towards them, all wanting to get to the fresh meat first. She wanted to run but was too frightened by the consequences of taking such action. She wouldn't have had time to escape anyway, for only five seconds after the captain had said his sentence, she felt rough hands grab her arms and yank them painfully back behind her. The stench was enough to make her want to vomit, along with the fact that she could _feel_ the filth on their hands.

It wasn't a long walk to the captain's quarters, and when they reached them the three were practically thrown in, the door shut behind them. She began to reconsider being so overjoyed at her predicament.


	2. A Small Exchange

_I don't own anything from the movie, or anyone. Not even Jack Sparrow, unfortunately. . ._

**Chapter Two**

"Where the hell are we?" was the first thing out of Kelsey's mouth.

"Yeah, what she said," Julie spoke up.

Ariana knew. She had to try and explain the situation to them; they couldn't stay bemused and unaware – it could be dangerous. They needed to know what was happening. She had the words formed and ready in her head, casual and insane – probably why she couldn't bring herself to voice them. They wouldn't believe her; but they had no other choice. What else would they believe? They definitely knew that they were not in the movie theater anymore.

"Are you asking me?" she finally said, stalling.

"No – not unless you know something that we don't," Kelsey told her, putting a hand on her hip. "And I don't think that you would." She gave her friend a pointed look, and Ariana swore she caught a suspicious curiosity in her eyes.

"Uh – I. . . I dunno." She hadn't meant for it to come out so broken up and blatantly fake, but her mind had fumbled in her hurry to come up with a way to tell them the truth. She had always had a talent for telling believable lies; her friends would easily pick up on it if she slipped.

"You don't sound like you don't know," Kelsey said, raising her eyebrows.

"Ariana. . ." Julie trailed off, her voice sounding slightly accusing.

"I swear I don't know where we are." This time she sounded more credible. She wanted to put off telling them for as long as she could.

"Well how do you explain how we got on a ship full of perverts in the middle of the fucking ocean?" Kelsey said, anger in her voice. She waved her hand in the air.

She didn't want to tell them – but she would have to, wouldn't she? They couldn't be stuck inside a place like this without knowing it. She knew they wouldn't stop questioning her now anyway. "Well – um – see, I _kinda _think I _might_ know where we are. . ." She stared up at the ceiling, then down at the wooden floor of the cabin, not wanting to see their reactions.

"You do?" Julie asked.

"Yeah. . ."

"Well then where are we?" Kelsey asked impatiently.

"Um. . ." She silently swallowed, then took a deep breath. "You know how we were – kind of like, heading towards the movie screen back in the theater?" She could try letting it out slowly, at least.

"Yeah," Kelsey and Julie said in unison, waiting for more.

"Well, what do you think that means?" Maybe they could figure it out themselves; she didn't want to say it. Saying it made it real.

"I don't know," Kelsey answered, annoyed. Ariana knew she didn't want to think about it, she just wanted to hear the explanation. She didn't blame her.

"Me either," Julie responded.

Okay, so maybe they wouldn't figure it out. That meant that she would have to tell them. She steeled herself, then took another deep breath and said, "We're. . .in. . .the movie."

Silence.

Then –

"What!" That was Kelsey.

Ariana looked up from the floor with an almost pained expression on her face and said, "You heard me."

"That's not possible," Kelsey said.

"Well, apparently it is," Ariana replied as gently as she could, slightly nodding her head. "Like you said, how else do you explain this?" She put her hands out to her sides, palms facing up, indicating the cabin around them, the ship they were on.

"I don't know, but. . ." She searched for another justification.

"Maybe it's a dream," Julie suggested.

"Yeah, sure, it's a dream. We're all having the same dream. Sure," Ariana said sarcastically, her defensive side coming out.

Before her friend could reply, the door swung open, banging against the wall. Ariana reacted by swiftly jumping to Kelsey's side and spinning around to face whoever had arrived.

The captain entered the cabin, shutting the door behind him. He casually walked across the room and took a seat at a table that was up against one of the walls, looking at the three teenagers.

"So yer prob'ly wonderin' how ya's got 'ere, righ'?" he said, leaning back casually and putting his boots up on the table.

"Who are you?" Ariana asked him. She had never seen him once in the movie.

"I be Cap'n Shallows, and tha' outside was me crew."

"How did we get here?" Julie managed to ask, still in shock from what Ariana had revealed to her a minute earlier.

"Aye, by this."

He held up a golden medallion that hung from his dirty fingers, depicting two swords crossed over a treasure chest with drops of blood coming down.

"Ya see, ah found this cave a li'le while back, bu' it was sealed. Now, ah aint the best reader, bu' the doors said somethin' 'bout there bein' a magical treasure beyond 'em, and wha' was needed ta git in was blood from a child of another world."

Now the three girls understood. But what was it about the blood? This was the second time that they knew of that pirates needed damned blood for something. Couldn't they just get things themselves?

"How did you get that medallion? How did you know it would bring us here?" Kelsey asked before Ariana could, with much less hesitation than Julie. She was not afraid of this man; she was repulsed.

"Ah found it in the doors tha' sealed the entrance to the cave. It was in the rock. So o' course it would 'ave to 'ave somethin' ta go wit' wha' the doors said."

"How do you know we're the ones you need?" Julie said, playing on the hope that maybe he was incredibly stupid and would think that he had the wrong children.

No such luck.

He let out a laugh, thoroughly amused. "Lass, you pop outta nowhere on me deck and expect me ta believe tha' you're no' the ones ah need?"

Ariana figured that if he was telling them all this, then he wasn't planning on letting them go.

"Are you going to let us go?" she asked him bluntly. What else was there to do? At least this way she'd know if they had any easy chance at all.

"Ah don' think so, lass. We're on our way there righ' now."


	3. The Black Pearl

_Don't own anything from the movie. . . Not Jack Sparrow. . ._

**Chapter Three**

Ariana was about to question him when a loud bang pierced their ears and the ship shook slightly. She already knew was it was.

Captain Shallows' feet dropped to the floor and he flew out of his seat, heading swiftly for the door. He yanked it open, causing it to hit the wall violently and bounce back off. He turned to them and said, "Ye be'er stay 'ere, or you'll be sorry." With that, he grabbed the doorknob and swung the door closed, and they could hear his hurried footsteps heading up onto the deck.

"You think he locked us in?" Ariana asked.

"Who cares? If we go up there, we're dead, or worse," Kelsey replied.

"Well I don't want to stay on this ship any longer," Julie argued, almost whining.

"Neither do I," Ariana told her. "But who knows? Maybe that's the Black Pearl attacking us." She was indeed hopeful; at least she _knew_ the man on _that_ ship – even though he didn't know. . .

"Good luck," Julie said dryly.

"We're not in the movie, okay?" Kelsey said, irritated.

"Yes we _are!_" Ariana told her. "Why can't you accept that? You know it's _true!_"

"No it's not!" Kelsey began to get angry. She didn't want to give in to the ludicrous idea; it was just too – ludicrous. She was caught between the side of her that just wanted to go home, and the side that couldn't deny what was all around her.

Another cannon fire rattle the ship slightly.

"Okay, ya know what? This is no time to argue about it! We're in _danger _here! The pirates on the other ship are going to come over here eventually, and they probably _aren't_ going to _kill_ us." She got her message through in her tone. "So if you just want to _sit _down here and wait for that to happen, be my guest. But I suggest that we get _out _of here and find some place safer to hide." They had to find somewhere on the ship where they wouldn't be found; the captain's quarters was probably the worst spot they could be. "Okay, I have an idea. How about we go up on deck and get into a rowboat, then row away and try to find an island or something?" At least they would be off the ship.

"Try to find an island? We're on a _ship, _and we have _no _idea _where _the fuck we are, and you want to just get into a _rowboat _and take your chances?" Kelsey exploded.

"How do you even know they _have _rowboats up there?" Julie asked.

Ariana looked at Kelsey. "What the hell else are we supposed to do? You _really _think there's _anywhere _on this ship that's actually _safe? _We have to get off or we'll be taken, there's no other _choice!_ " She turned to Julie. "All ships have rowboats. If we can get into one and get into the water quick enough, we might be able to get away. The two ships will be busy fighting and hopefully won't notice us." If they were found it would be disastrous. She was banking on there being so much fighting going on, that who would notice a few extra bodies? With any luck their extra bodies wouldn't be pegged as female. . . That was a stretch, but they had no other option. They couldn't stay on the ship.

She felt the ship shake again as another cannon fired.

"I don't know. . ." The doubt was clearly evident in Julie's voice.

"Well, it's the only shot we've got!" Kelsey told her, heading for the door without hesitation. She seemed to have done a complete 180 from her previous position.

"Come on!" Ariana told Julie, following her other friend and waving her hand in the direction of the door.

Julie sighed loudly but came over as Kelsey pulled the door open.

"Well, it's not locked," she stated, looking back at the other two.

"Go! Go!" Ariana told her hurriedly, rushing her forward. She didn't know how much time they had and wanted to get as far away as quickly as possible.

The three ran up towards the deck, hearing yet another cannon blast. Once there, they hid behind a grouping of large barrels, peeking over the tops and searching for the rowboats.

There were men fighting everywhere: swords clanging together, guns firing, loud shouts and yells, bodies lying here and there. Add all of that to the cannons that were going off every minute, and it was almost deafening.

But they barely noticed any of that as they caught sight of the offending ship.

It was completely black. It boasted ripped and torn sails, with a jolly roger blowing in the wind at the top of the dark mast.

The Black Pearl.

When Ariana had given her possibility of the other ship being The Black Pearl, she hadn't really believed it. Now there was a sense of relief mixed with shock inside her. The first thought in her head was to go aboard and find Jack Sparrow, but logic quickly kicked in and told her that this was the movie, not real life – he was a pirate, not an actor. Who knows what he would do if three teenage girls came onto his ship? Who knew if he was even the captain of the ship now? She had no idea what time this was. It couldn't be the same time as the movie, because The Black Pearl had never attacked any other ship besides the British Navy's.

So that begged the question – what time was it?

They needed to get to a rowboat, and fast.

She managed to tear her eyes away from the other ship and began looking around the deck closely. She turned to the right and found what she was searching for. Hope surged through her.

"Guys!" she hissed loudly. "Guys, look! To your right!"

Kelsey and Julie both turned their heads to the right and saw the rowboat.

"Okay, so you know how to get that thing down into the water, right?" she asked, praying that one of them would say yes. If they couldn't even get the boat into the water, they had nothing.

"Um, I think I do," Julie said.

"Okay, good. Come on." She was somewhat reassured; they still had to do this unseen. She watched the rest of the deck to see if anyone was looking their way – no one that she could see. She felt painful knots of fear and apprehension beginning to form in her stomach, and it put a bad taste in the back of her mouth.

They moved as quick as they could, keeping low to the ground, towards the rowboat, trying to ignore the harsh and sudden cannon fires and shouts from the crew as they fought.

When they reached it, they climbed in and slid down as low as they could, lying flat on their stomachs. Then all three peered over the side at the battle taking place. They had to be quick if they didn't want to be captured.

"Okay, Julie, you said you knew how to work this thing," Ariana whispered. "So what do we do?"

"Okay, well, I think first we have to pull this thing," she replied, indicating a rope that was hanging down near them. "I think that's what'll get us up and over the side of the ship."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah."

"Positive?" She couldn't risk doing the wrong thing and getting the three of them noticed.

"Yeah." This time she said it more pointedly.

"Okay, pull it."

Julie reached up and grabbed the rope, about to do so when they heard a gruff voice say, "Well, wha' do we 'ave 'ere?"

All three of them looked up into the face of an ugly, filthy pirate. He was bald, and as he grinned they could see several missing teeth.

_We were almost off the fucking ship! _Ariana was cursing repeatedly in her head, the foulest things she could think of. She wanted to break something.

"Troy! Malachi! Come look wha' I foun'!" he yelled over his shoulder, and in that split second that his head was turned, Ariana got up the courage – from where had no idea – to get up, jump over Julie, and clamber out of the rowboat, almost tripping. She searched the deck in a hurry with her eyes, seeking anything to use as a weapon. She spotted a dead pirate sprawled near the side of the ship, his sword next to him.

_Perfect. _She ran over to him and picked up the sword; it felt incredibly heavy. She took a deep breath and got as used to the weight as she could before whipping around.

The pirate at the rowboat was eyeing her with an amused look on his face. "Come 'ere, lass," he said. "Ye really think ye can fight me?" He grinned.

Ariana didn't respond; she just stood there. She had never used a sword before, and it was about thirty pounds heavier than she ever could have imagined. She was petrified at the thought of actually fighting with a grown man who was skilled with the weapon and possibly getting killed. She wouldn't last two minutes. What was she doing?

Two other pirates had come up beside him, and they stayed at the rowboat while he advanced towards her, so as not to let her friends make the same move she had. The same stupid move. . .

When he got closer, she backed up a few steps until she felt the dead pirate bump her foot, causing her to jump in alarm. She moved swiftly to her left, away from the body.

"Come now, lass. Pu' it down. . ."

Still she remained silent; she was trying to prepare herself. Talking would distract her.

He unsheathed his own sword and she inhaled sharply.

"I don' wanna 'ave ta use 'is on ye," he said. "It'd be a shame, it would." He gave a small grin.

Before she knew what she was doing, she had swung the sword at him, trying desperately to aim for his stomach. The weight of the sword cause her to instead meet up with his leg – well, it would have had he not jumped back and allowed the sword to fall through thin air. She almost fell from the weight of the blade falling. He ran at her and she swung again, but he blocked it and pushed her back with his sword. She stumbled back and barely kept her balance; he swung at her, hoping to scare her, and she blocked it only by wildly throwing her sword up and by chance having it meet his. It had been pure reflex; she was amazed that she had even done it at all.

She pulled the sword back and swung again, but he parried and easily knocked it out of her hand. It fell to the deck with a clatter.

A wave of dread washed over her.

He sheathed his sword and grasped her arm all in one move, then spun her around so that he could grab her other arm. He led her back to the rowboat where the other two pirates were busy with Kelsey and Julie. Kelsey was putting up a fight – screaming, kicking, and punching – while Julie was just jumping around, trying to avoid the pirate who was trying to catch her.

"Wha' a catch," one of them said as the pirate holding Ariana came over. "T'ree of 'em!" He sounded excited. He disgusted her.

"I cer'ainly am," the other said with a grin.

"Troy, take 'er," the first said, pointing to Julie, and he finally managed to get hold of her, since she had backed up into a corner of the rowboat with the railing of the ship the only thing behind her. He pulled her out of the rowboat, ignoring her futile attempts to free herself.

"Malachi, take 'er," he said, pointing to Kelsey, who had the angriest look in her eyes Ariana had ever seen before.

"She's puttin' up a figh'," he replied, trying to grab her for the hundredth time and failing as she jumped away from him and kicked at his arm violently.

The pirate that had a hold of Ariana grumbled and told him, "Take ou' yer sword, ya idiot!"

"Oh, righ'," Malachi said stupidly. He unsheathed his weapon and pointed it at Kelsey. "Come wit' me, lass."

"I already told you, NO!" Kelsey would follow her anger no matter where it led her.

"Come on!" He moved the sword closer to her threateningly.

"No." If looks could kill, she'd have him dead on the deck. Sparks could have flown from her eyes.

"I said – " he touched the tip of the blade to her chest, " – come on." His voice was low and dangerous.

Kelsey looked down at the sword for a few seconds. She wasn't going to let this asshole just take her like this. But of course, she knew that he probably wouldn't hesitate to kill her if he had to, either – after all, there were still two other girls here. What choice did she have? Maybe if she went with him, she could persuade the captain to have his crew leave the three of them alone. And if that didn't work – well, then she would just think of something else. One thing she was sure of: she wasn't going to let any of them hurt her friends.

She made sure to keep the look on her face, staring him dead in the eye, stiff as a board.

He slowly, almost cautiously reached out to her and grasped her arm. When she didn't try to injure him again, he quickly sheathed his sword and took hold of her other arm, pulling her out of the rowboat and close to him. He turned her around so that her back was to him, and then she and Ariana were led onto The Black Pearl, right behind Julie and her captor.


	4. Captain Jack Sparrow

_Don't own anything. . . Absolutely nothing. . . Besides the story. . . Which means I don't own Jack Sparrow. . ._

**Chapter Four**

Captain Jack Sparrow stood grand and majestic behind the wheel of his ship, watching as three of his crew headed his way, carrying with them three teenage girls. Finally some worthy cargo. . . He was getting tired of the measly excuses for food and lack of money they had been finding for some time now.

The only odd thing about them was the way they were dressed; they wore clothes and shoes he had never seen before.

They were brought up to him, feverishly trying to break away from the men who held them.

"Look wha' we got, Cap'n," Byron said. "Foun' 'em on the otha' ship."

The girls that he and Malachi held seemed much more fiery than the third, who was mildly calm compared to the others. But the brunette that Byron held caught his attention. He grinned.

"Well. I thought we might find something on the ship, but I certainly did not expect this. Very nice work, gentlemen."

It was apparent now that this was after the movie, since Jack was the captain and none of the crew was recognizable; the realization that they couldn't have been pulled in before the movie anyway, or else they wouldn't have been pulled in at all, hit Ariana at the same time.

Byron looked down at Ariana and grinned, then asked Jack, "Can we 'ave 'em?" Grins slowly spread across Malachi and Troy's faces as well.

"Now, now, there's no haste. I think, that since _I _am the captain, that I should get first privileges, eh? You can wait a bit, can't you?" The grin was still on his face.

"Aye," Byron answered reluctantly, disappointed.

Jack took a few swaying, graceful steps forward and reached out, beginning to play with Ariana's silky hair, twisting it around his finger. She felt a shock run through her, and he looked into her emerald eyes.

"Leave them in my quarters," he told the three pirates, maintaining eye contact with her until Byron pulled her away.

Eventually The Black Pearl sailed away from The Fearless, having won temporarily, and boasting a prize.

* * *

Jack Sparrow opened the door to his cabin and saw the three captives sitting on the floor talking, though they stopped as he walked in and shut the door, staring at him.

He took them in for a few seconds, then said, "So. Let's get ta know each otha, shall we? Let's start by telling me your names." He walked over to them and say down next to Ariana, giving her another rush.

All three of them looked at each other for a moment, and then Ariana said her name.

"Ariana." He let it hang in the air for a moment, looking at her. Then he nodded. "I like it."

"I'm Julie."

Jack turned to face her.

"Kelsey."

He looked at the third one, then asked, "Where do you come from?"

There was a dead silence for a minute, none of them sure of what to say.

Ariana decided on evasiveness. "We're from far away. _Very _far away."

"I see. Is that all you're planning on telling me?"

"Depends on what you ask."

"All right then. What are you wearing?" His brow furrowed as he looked down at their clothing.

"Clothes from where we're from."

"I've neva seen clothes like that before."

"Well then you've obviously never been there."

"And where is there, exactly?" He was hopeful that he would get an answer. . .

"Far away."

His face fell. "I see. I take it you weren't on that other ship because you wanted to be, am I correct?"

"Yes."

"Well. . . Do you prefer this ship to that one?" He raised his eyebrows in interest.

Ariana waited a few seconds before she spoke, looking at her friends. She had no idea how he'd take knowing they preferred his ship; he might take it too personally, and she wasn't sure how good an idea it was to get personal.

"Can't really say yet." That was a good answer, at least she thought so.

"Well. . . What exactly would – help you with your decision?" His voice was low.

"Sleep," she told him.

His face fell again, and a few seconds later he grudgingly said, "All right then. It'll be dark soon. You three can sleep here tonight." He stood and left the room without looking back.

A minute or two of silence, and then Ariana brought them all back to reality by announcing that there wasn't enough room for three people on the bed.

"I'm surprised he didn't try anything," Julie said.

"Yet. Didn't try anything yet," Ariana corrected her. "You think there's cots or something in here?"

"Why don't we check?" Kelsey said, looking around the room.

"Who's sleeping on the floor, or cot, or whatever?" Ariana asked.

"Not me," they all said in unison.

"Hold on, I think I have a quarter," Kelsey told them, reaching in to her pocket. She withdrew her hand. "Call it." She flipped the quarter up into the air.

"Heads!" Julie said.

Kelsey caught the quarter in her palm and flipped it onto the back of her hand. "Heads. You get the bed."

"Yes!" Julie smiled triumphantly.

"Now we do it again to see who else gets the bed," Kelsey said, flipping the quarter into the air once more.

"Heads!" Ariana said as it fell back into Kelsey's palm.

Again she flipped it over and said, "Tails. You get the floor. Haha."

"Or the cot, if we find one."

"Key word: 'if.'"

Ariana raised her eyebrows. "Shut up."

"No." Kelsey grinned at her friend's irritation, then began searching the room to help find a cot.


	5. We All Have Our Wants

_Me? Own Pirates of the Caribbean? Only in my dreams._

**Chapter Five**

Ariana opened her eyes, then quickly shut them against the blinding light that was streaming in through the large windows. She waited a few seconds, trying to find sleep again. She had never had much luck doing so once she had woken up however, so she eventually gave in to wakefulness and opened her eyes again. She squinted until she was able to get used to the sun, blinking a few times and looking over at her friends, who were still fast asleep on the bed. Kelsey was all curled up, and Julie had an arm slung over the side of the bed with a spot of drool on her pillow.

Ariana had slept well, considering the events of the previous day. She had dreamt about everything that had happened; obviously, it wasn't going to be off her mind.

She lay there on the cot that she, Kelsey, and Julie had eventually found stowed away somewhere in the cabin, thinking about the dream. For some reason she hadn't wanted it to end.

It was then that she noticed someone else in the room as well.

Captain Jack Sparrow stood in the doorway, leaning against the doorframe. He had been watching her, she could have sworn it – but if he had, he was now looking at her friends. She didn't move, not wanting him to know that she was awake. . . .She wasn't sure why. Maybe she just didn't want him to leave.

He suddenly switched his gaze to her, and she didn't have time to close her eyes. Their gazes locked.

A few seconds later he turned and walked up to the deck, letting the door close behind him. She sat up and rubbed her eyes, eventually standing and stumbling over to the bed.

She first woke Kelsey, then Julie, who was harder to get up.

"Where are we?" Kelsey asked, sitting up alert, after she had looked around her.

"Yeah, what she said," Julie spoke after rising as well.

"In the movie, like I told you." She didn't have as difficult a time saying it now; the adventurer in her believed it, and the rest of her was beginning to as well.

"Oh yeah. . ." Julie said, the day before flooding back into her memory.

"Oh my god, no we're _not!_" Kelsey said, annoyed. She wanted to believe her friend, but at the same time she just couldn't. One small part of her thought that it was possible; another thought that Ariana had gone insane and taken them with her.

"Then tell me where we are, Kelsey. Go ahead. Tell me where we are. Because this definitely isn't any of our bedrooms."

"I don't know where we are, okay?"

"You just don't want to admit it. You know."

"I think it's true. . .maybe," Julie spoke up, quietly.

"Good, at least _someone's _willing to admit it."

"You know what, shut up!" Kelsey told her.

"No!"

Kelsey threw the covers off of herself and climbed out of the bed. Julie did the same, minus the violence.

"I refuse to believe that we got sucked into a goddamn movie!" Kelsey had walked swiftly to Ariana as she said this.

"_I _refuse to believe that you really believe what you're saying," Ariana retorted, putting her hands on her hips and raising her eyebrows.

Kelsey rolled her eyes and shot back, "Whatever. I don't care."

"Fine. Are we going to stay in here all day or what?"

"Well, I was just woke up and I want to go back to sleep," Kelsey replied.

"Too bad. You're up now, you're gonna stay up."

"No I'm not." Kelsey then turned around and jumped back into the bed, pulling the blankets up to her shoulders and closing her eyes.

"Yes you are!" Ariana ran over and grabbed the covers, yanking them off of her. She pulled her into a sitting position and attempted to drag her onto the floor.

"No! Let me go!" Kelsey kicked her in the chest. She ignored it and pulled at her with all her might, until finally Kelsey flew off the bed and landed on top of her.

"Ow! Get off me!"

"Well, well, what's going on in here?" A rich, familiar voice said.

They all turned to the doorway to see Jack standing there in the morning light, grinning. He was looking at the results of Ariana and Kelsey's mini-battle.

Kelsey swiftly pushed herself off of her friend, not wanting Jack to get any ideas, but by the look on his face, he already had plenty.

"This. . .isn't what it looks like," Ariana told him, getting up.

"I'm sure it isn't, love."

"It's not," Kelsey spoke, rising as well.

"I'd like for you three to do some work fa' me," he told them. "Unless you can think of – a better way to spend your day." He raised his eyebrows.

"What kind of work?" Ariana said, dismissing him.

"The ship needs to be cleaned. If you're up to it, that is. After all, not many women are. In fact, the women I've known have had an interest in something quite different." A gleam came into his eyes.

"Well, we're not those women," she told him pointedly.

"So you don't mind scrubbing the deck, cleaning off grime and birdy turds, maggots, things like that?"

"Nope."

His demeanor changed. "Fine then. The things you will need are up on deck. Have fun." He sashayed back up the stairs.

A few minutes later they were outside, grabbing pails of soapy water and rags. They set to work, the sun beating down on them, aware that most of the crew was watching them. They ignored the comments and whistles that they heard; the only person not saying much was Jack, who was roaming around on deck, and Gibbs.

He came over to Ariana and bent down next to her. "You know, love, I think I'm rather enjoying this," he said into her ear.

He spent the day taking them in now and then when he wasn't mapping a heading or directing any of his crew or drinking. Ariana intrigued him for some reason, and he didn't know why, because he hadn't talked to the girl that much.

* * *

That night, the three were in his quarters once again, the room lit dimly by a kerosene lamp on the bedside table.

"All day long. Cleaning all day long," Ariana said, falling down onto the bed and enjoying the relaxation. "My back felt like it was on _fire._"

"That is something I never want to do again," Julie said, flopping down next to her. "I thought chores at home were bad enough. I think I got a bunch of bug bites too."

"Those guys are disgusting," Kelsey put in, making a face.

"Yes, yes they are," Ariana agreed.

A short while later, Jack entered the room to find Ariana and Julie lying horizontally on the bed, feet dangling off, nearly asleep, and Kelsey lying the opposite way, Ariana's feet near her head.

He grinned, amused, and said loudly, "Would any of you by any chance be hungry?"

His voice penetrated their would-be slumber, and they shot up, startled, staring at him. He found it hard to keep himself from chuckling.

"What. . . What are you eating?" Ariana asked him groggily.

"We don't have much. There's bread, some fruit, and pork. . . Thought I'm not so sure about the pork." He made a face.

". . .We'll have the bread and fruit."

"Will you be dining with the crew and I, or shall I bring it in here?"

"Bring it here," Ariana replied, then remembered her manners. "Please."

"All right then." He turned and sashayed his way to where they assumed the galley was.

"God, I'm _starving_," Ariana said as her stomach growled, and her friends agreed.

About five or ten minutes later, Jack came back with three plates piled with the biggest rations he could give them.

"There you are," he told them as each took a plate. "Thought I must mention how disappointed the crew and I are that you've chosen not to come and eat with us."

"Well, we have a lot of. . .personal things that we need to talk about, that's all," Ariana replied.

"I see. Well, I'll leave you to it, then. Good night." He closed the door and they heard him leave.

"You should've told him to stay here and eat with us," Kelsey said, grinning mischievously.

"Well, I would've but that might've given him the wrong idea – well, the right idea for him, the wrong idea for us." She sat down on the bed and immediately tore a chunk off of one of the slices of bread – making sure to avoid the small bit of mold that was growing on part of it. Her friends followed suite, none noticing that they had no drinks. They didn't care, they just wanted food. Even if half of it was spoiled.

They were finished in ten minutes, devouring the food, and now they were tired again. Ariana looked at her watch.

"You think my watch says the right time that it is here?"

"Well, it was daytime when we were watching the movie, and in the movie it was daytime. . ." Julie suggested.

"So maybe it's close. It says 8:00. It's pretty dark out."

"Early," Julie said.

"Tired," Kelsey said, trying unsuccessfully to keep her eyes open.

"Me too," Ariana replied.

They had another coin toss, and this time Julie got the cot.


	6. Unseen Return

Still don't own anything – I wish I owned Jack Sparrow, but I don't. . .  
  
Chapter Six  
  
"Would you ladies care to help me again on the ship?"  
That was the first thing Captain Jack Sparrow asked them after they had woken up that morning, his words slightly slurred as usual. None of them felt like anymore cleaning – they had spent all of the day before, and didn't feel up to doing it again. Even if it wasn't cleaning, they still didn't want to do anything – they just wanted to go back to sleep and wake up back home. They didn't enjoy being on this ship, even though Jack was there. He was the only reason they hadn't tried to escape. Otherwise, they would've found a way to be long gone by now.  
"We're not really feeling up to doing much today," Ariana told him.  
"Well. . ." He paused briefly, then continued, "You seemed to do just fine yestaday."  
Ariana hesitated in answering, not sure how to reply.  
"It's just that we're really tired today, from working all day yesterday," Kelsey told him.  
"I see." He looked down at the floor for about two seconds, then brought his head back up and said, "Do you at least want ta come up for some fresh air?" His arms were stretched slightly outward, palms up.  
"In a little bit, sure," Ariana responded.  
"Well all right then." He turned and went back up on deck.  
"So do you want to go up right now?" Ariana asked her friends.  
"No," Julie answered. "I wanna go back to sleep."  
"So do I, but I can't."  
"I just want to go home. And I want to bring Johnny with me," Kelsey said. She grinned.  
"He's not Johnny here, he's Jack," Ariana corrected her.  
"No he's not!"  
"Yes he is!"  
"Look, Kelsey," Julie said, going over to her. "How else could we have gotten here? Just think about it. What other reason could there be?" She was trying to be gentle; NOBODY wanted to get Kelsey angry.  
Julie now agreed with Ariana – at first she hadn't been so sure, but now she knew that there was no other explanation for what had happened; for where they were. She accepted it. Kelsey had to as well.  
Her friend didn't say anything at first; she was too busy arguing with herself. Her adventurous, wild side knew that it was true, but her other, more rational side that didn't always come up as much knew that it just wasn't possible. But lately her wild side had been winning, and it was her friends against her. "I don't care."  
Ariana sighed – Kelsey was the toughest person to convince. Once she had an opinion or was sure of something, she wasn't going to go back on her decision. Ariana and Julie both knew that from experience. "Let's just stop arguing," she said. "I'm sick and tired of arguing about the same damn thing."  
"Hey, you're the one who brought it up," Kelsey told her, raising her eyebrows.  
"No I didn't!"  
"Yes you did."  
"No I didn't!"  
"Guys! Guys! Please!" Julie interjected loudly, putting her hands up.  
The two girls both rolled their eyes, knowing that Julie could never stop an argument between them – no one could, or had ever been able to. They were both fighters, and when they disagreed with each other, they kept going until someone lost or admitted they were wrong, which almost never happened. The only people who could make them stop was themselves, and this time, they did decide to stop, to avoid it going any further and also because they didn't want to get angry at Julie, who had done nothing wrong.  
"Ya know, if we go out there, we'll probably have to put up with the crew," Ariana said.  
"Yeah, we will." Julie agreed. "But I don't think Jack will really let them DO anything."  
"Hopefully not."  
Kelsey nodded in agreement. "They do, and I'll kill 'em."  
Ariana grinned. "We'll get to see Jack. So do you want to go and 'get some fresh air' or what?"  
"Oh, why not," Kelsey replied.  
"Yeah, sure," Julie said.  
The three walked out of the cabin and up on deck, where some of the crew was. Most of the men were below deck, but some were outside, checking the sails and so on.  
The harsh sunlight met their eyes and blinded them at first; it took a few moments before they adjusted and after rapid blinking and squinting, they walked over to the side of the ship.  
They all kept glancing over at Jack, who was at the wheel, and whenever he would look back at them they would quickly shift their fix their eyes on something else.  
Ariana thought that the ocean looked beautiful, the way the sun was hitting the water, making it sparkle. She gazed out over it, getting lost in her thoughts.  
  
She didn't know how long she stood there, but soon enough she was pulled sharply back to reality by the sound of a cannon fire.  
'Oh no,' she thought. 'Oh God, no.' She felt a knot form in her stomach and as she looked in front of her, the knot grew so painful that she winced and a cold wave of fear spread over her.  
The Fearless (though she didn't know its name at the time) was about twenty feet away, maybe not even that, and getting closer. How had she not seen it? She had known that they would find out that the three of them were gone, and that they would come after them, but she had been so busy thinking about other matters that that had been pushed to the back of her mind, making her forget all about it. This now painfully reminded her.  
"Oh shit," she said, too scared to move at first. "Guys. . ." She could hear Kelsey swearing.  
They backed away from the side as crewmembers from the Fearless started swinging over to the Black Pearl, all eyes fixed on them.  
"Guys, they want us, we have to get out of here!" Ariana told her two friends.  
"Where do we go?" Julie asked, sounding frantic from her fear.  
"I don't know. . .captain's quarters!" It was the first place that popped into her head.  
"But they'll be able to get in there!" Kelsey told her.  
"Maybe there's a lock or something, or we can push furniture against the door!"  
"Then RUN!"  
They finally began moving their legs, sprinting as fast as they could.  
They weren't fast enough.  
Kelsey felt someone grab her arm, and so did Julie. Both their reactions were to scream out Ariana's name.  
She stopped running immediately and spun around.  
Two pirates were picking up Kelsey and Julie and she knew that more would be coming for her. She had to save them.  
Kelsey was kicking and elbowing the pirate holding her as forcefully as she could, trying to break free. Julie was attempting to squirm out of her captor's grasp – she wasn't nearly as violent as Kelsey.  
"LET ME GO!!" Kelsey screamed dangerously.  
The pirate just laughed and took hold of the rope that he had swung over with. The other did the same.  
"No!" Ariana shouted, racing towards them. She was going so fast that she tripped and flew to the right, landing right next to the side. She quickly scrambled back up and saw the two pirates swinging across back to The Fearless, holding her friends.  
She was about to grab another rope to swing over to them when she felt a sharp, sudden pain in her head. She felt herself falling, and then an ice-cold feeling penetrating every nerve of her body as everything went black.  
  
A/N: Told you something would happen in this chapter. I bet I know what you're wondering-where was Jack when all this happened? You'll find that out next chapter. Please review! 


	7. And The Truth Comes Out

I still don't own a damn thing, besides this story, and the extra characters in it that don't belong to the movie. . .if only I owned Jack Sparrow. . .  
  
Chapter Seven  
  
Captain Jack Sparrow had ordered his crew up on deck to fight, and had witnessed the situation unfolding with the three teenagers.  
He hadn't noticed it until the two pirates had a hold of Kelsey and Julie, since he had been too busy giving his crew orders. Once he had taken notice of it, he had run over as fast as he could, but not before the two pirates had taken Kelsey and Julie over to their ship. He saw the pirate approaching Ariana from behind and had sped up, not ready to let her be harmed. When the pirate had knocked her unconscious and she fell overboard, he quickly pulled out his sword and impaled the man as violently as he was able before he could have a chance to fight. Then he dove in after her.  
He knew she would already be sinking, since she was not cognizant, so he searched underwater, straining his eyes as he spun around in circles, finally finding her about six or seven feet under, still descending. She looked like a doll that had been thrown into the water, her hair spread out all around her. He reached out and grabbed her around the waist, holding her close to him as he kicked back up to the surface.  
They both popped up out of the water and he swam over to the side of the ship with her. His crew had let down a rope for him when he had jumped in, and now he climbed up with her slung over his shoulder, which was not an easy feat.  
Once he reached the top minutes later, he lay her down on the deck gently and began to press down on her stomach, trying to extract the water from her lungs.  
  
On The Fearless. . .  
  
The two pirated carried Kelsey and Julie to Captain Shallows, who was looking very satisfied. The two girls, on the other hand, looked ready to be sick; these pirates obviously did not care much for cleanliness.  
"We got two of 'em, cap'n," the pirate holding Kelsey told him.  
"Very good, very good," he replied, nodding.  
"Wha' abou' the otha one?" Julie's captor questioned.  
"We don' need all t'ree of 'em. Remember, we only need blood from ONE child. So two's even be'er." He grinned. "And besides, she'll be wantin' ta save 'er li'le friends, so she's gonna be comin' ta us anyways."  
"Well uh – can we 'ave 'em 'till we get ta the cave?" the pirate holding Kelsey asked.  
"Oh, by all means, go ahead. Doesn' ma'er ta me."  
The two crewmembers smirked widely as The Fearless began to sail away from the Black Pearl, having gotten what it came for.  
  
Back on the Black Pearl. . .  
  
Jack had managed to remove all the water from her lungs, and now she was breathing normally, but she was still unconscious. He had lain her down on the bed in his quarters, waiting for her to come to. Now he was standing in the doorway, gazing at her.  
In his opinion she looked vastly delightful wet; her clothes clung to her lovely figure, and her damp hair hung down around her face, which made her even more attractive. But he particularly enjoyed that her clothing stuck to her, causing her stomach and chest to be further defined. He surveyed her for a few more minutes, afterwards taking a chair and sitting down by the bed, wishing to view her close-up. Her skin wasn't immaculate, but it was fair, and so were her eyebrows, and her lips. . .he yearned to kiss those lips. . .but did he really want to take advantage of her? Part of him did; but a bigger part of him didn't. But who knew, maybe she wanted the same thing he did. She hadn't been rude to him, or given him any reason to think that she disliked him in the slightest. And she was so beautiful. . .one little kiss couldn't hurt. . . He slowly leaned down towards her face, growing closer and closer, and soon he was but an inch from her mouth, and he could feel her warm breath escaping her slightly parted lips. . .but then he immediately drew back when she began to stir. She opened her eyes and blinked a few times, adjusting, and turned to look at him. He was watching over her. . .she just wanted him to remain where he sat so she could stare at him forever. . .but she knew that she couldn't. She had questions that needed answers.  
"What happened?" she asked him after a few seconds of silence.  
"Pirate from The Fearless knocked you unconscious, love. You fell ovaboa'd."  
"And you rescued me?"  
"Afta killing the son of a bitch, yes." His eyes didn't have the slightest trace of anger or hate within them as he looked at her.  
He had saved her life. He could've just let her drown, it would've been simple enough; but he hadn't. He had murdered for her, and rescued her from death – and he barely knew her. That must've meant he really care for her, didn't it? She hoped it did. Inside she was celebrating; screaming for joy. Outside, she was calm and trying to hid the enormous smile that was welling up inside her. "Why didn't you just let me die? Not that I'm ungrateful or anything."  
He didn't answer immediately, and it was some time before he replied. "Because I didn't want you to die." He said it in such a gentle voice that it shocked her, and his eyes seemed to bore right into her mind.  
"Well – thank you." It was all she could say.  
"Your welcome, love." He was about to rise, then seemed to remember something. "Are we ta go afta your friends?"  
She sat up instantaneously, an anxious look on her face. She had forgotten all about Kelsey and Julie. They had been taken! "Oh my God! I completely forgot! Yes, we have to go after them! We have to find them, get them back before they reach the cave!" She was fully awake and alert now.  
He gave her a questioning look. "Uh, what cave?" Obviously he knew nothing of what Shallows had found, which only slightly surprised her.  
"The cave! The cave that Captain Shallows told us about! We need to find them before he gets there!" She sounded frantic.  
"Well, if you don't mind me asking, why exactly do we need to do this?" What did a cave have to do with anything?  
"Because he needs blood from a child of another world and that's why he took Kelsey and Julie, for their blood! He would've taken me too, if it wasn't for you!"  
There was absolute confusion on his face. "Slow down there, love. You lost me. Did you say 'otha wo'ld'?"  
She realized what had slipped out. "Uh. . .yeah." 'Great. I've now succeeded in totally fucking everything up,' she thought. 'I'm such a moron!' She wanted to smack herself; she hadn't wanted to explain all this.  
His eyebrows rose in surprise, but he said nothing. She knew she would have to tell him everything now.  
"Ya see. . .we're kind of. . .from another world." She found it hard to get the words out; she wanted to tell him the truth, but at the same time, she didn't want him to know anything because she had no idea as to what the consequences of that could be.  
"Yes, I got that part already."  
"Well. . .in our world, this world is a movie." She spoke slowly. "And the captain of The Fearless sucked us into it. Well, actually, he used a medallion that he found at the cave."  
Jack looked as though she had just told him that pigs were flying. It was a while before he spoke. "So. . .let me see if I undastand you correctly. . ." He was looking down. "You're from anotha wo'ld. Your friends are from anotha wo'ld. And – you got pulled into THIS wo'ld by a medallion that is in Captain Shallows' possession?" He looked up at her.  
"Yeah. . ." She was surprised that he hadn't asked what a movie was; she had been expecting him to. Maybe he was just too shocked to ask. "That's why we didn't tell you where we were from, and why you've never seen our clothing before."  
The expression on his face now told her that he was debating whether to believe her or not. "Well. . ." he said after a very long pause, ". . .you're right, that would explain your interesting clothing. . .but. . .is that even possible?" His deep brown eyes were questioning.  
"Apparently it is." She brushed some of her wet hair back from her face, tucking it behind her ear.  
"Yes, apparently. . ." He seemed deep in thought. "And you said he wants you for your blood?"  
"Yeah, he said it opens the cave."  
"So we have ta go save your friends now?"  
"Yes! And we need to hurry! I don't know how much time we have, or how far away he is!"  
"All right, all right, calm down, love. . .we'll get him, don't worry. . ." He seemed far away, and she knew he was deep in thought about the new information he had received. He stood, but as he was about to leave, she grabbed his arm. He looked down at her.  
"Why do you believe me?" she asked.  
"Oh trust me, love. . .after what I've seen, I'll believe almost anything." He raised his eyebrows and grinned, then left the cabin, closing the door behind him.  
But she didn't want him to leave; she wanted him to stay with her. . .  
  
A/N: So did I do a good job with the whole Jack finding out where they're from thing? I hope I did. Reviews, please! 


	8. Training And A Little Surprise

I still wish that I owned Pirates of the Caribbean (and Jack Sparrow), but I don't. . .it sucks. . .  
  
Chapter Eight  
  
The next day was the worst for Ariana so far. She knew that Jack was there, but she also knew that her two best friends weren't. No, they were on another pirate ship miles and miles away, at this point, being brought to some cave in the middle of who-knows-where for sacrificial purposes. None of it really appealed to her that much. She hadn't slept a great deal that night; she was up mostly just tossing and turning, her thoughts on her friends, and when she did sleep, it was just nightmares about the horrible things that could happen to them. She wished that she had been taken onto that ship instead of them.  
She wanted to murder that bastard of a captain; she wanted to slaughter him and his entire crew of lewd, disgusting, immoral BEASTS that didn't even have the right to be called people. She wanted to take revenge on them, for bringing her and her friends here, for kidnapping them. . .she wanted retribution. That's what she needed. She reflected on how she had attempted to fight the pirate from The Fearless, and how she had failed miserably. She remembered how frightened she had been, how inexperienced she had felt. If she weren't a girl, he would've easily killed her. She hated that. She wanted to be able to defend herself in this world, to have a way to battle. She didn't want to be a little girl who screamed and ran instead of facing the danger.  
She walked over to Captain Jack Sparrow from her position at the side of the boat, where she had been thinking.  
He was standing at the wheel, just like he had been the previous day. He shifted his gaze to her as she approached him.  
"Jack?"  
"What is it, love?"  
"Teach me how to swordfight."  
He looked at her with an odd expression on his face, and said nothing for quite some time. He was still contemplating what she had enlightened him to last night, and he still found it just a tad bit difficult to believe. But, not entirely impossible, he supposed. . .after all, if pirates could turn into undead skeletons and terrorize people, why couldn't a few teenagers be brought into another world by a medallion? It all tied back to magic, really, to the supernatural – that much he was sure of. "Well, love, women aren't really meant ta swordfight, I mean – it's mainly a thing fa men."  
She rolled her eyes and shook her head. "Typical. Just because I'm a woman means that I can't use a sword? Is that what you're saying?" Her defensive side was coming out.  
"Well, yes. Yes, that is what I'm saying." He gave a nod.  
"So you're not going to teach me just because I'm a woman?"  
"Well, yes and no. Ya see, as I said before, women aren't really meant to swordfight. But SOME women –" he gave her a look, "- can't seem ta go wivout one."  
"And you're implying that I'm that kind of woman?" She put a hand on her hip.  
"Yes I am. I am IMPLYING –" she could tell that he was trying to imitate her, "- that you are that kind of woman." He gave a nod.  
"And is that a bad thing?"  
"Not always. Sometimes it make a woman even sexia." He grinned.  
She gave a leap of joy inside, smiling like the Cheshire Cat inwardly, and giving him a small grin in return, feeling her cheeks heating up. "So are you going to teach me or not?"  
He entertained the idea for but a few moments, then replied, "Fine." He knew that she had to be capable of defending herself, being a girl. Whether she was from another world or not, she still needed the ability. And he was the best around, so who better to teach her than him? Besides, he had been right about one thing – it would make her even sexier, and he couldn't wait to see her in action.  
She smiled in satisfaction. "So when do we start? 'Cause I need to learn before we get there." She found herself nearly bouncing from excitement.  
'God, she's in a rush,' he thought. "You do know that I can't teach you ta be the best swordsman – woman – in the wo'ld by the time we get there, don't you?"  
"Yeah, of course." She waved a hand. "But you can still teach me enough so that I can kick some ass, right?"  
'Nice language,' he thought sarcastically. But he liked the fact that she had no problem saying it – prim and proper always had annoyed him. "I can teach you the basics, enough so that hopefully you won't get yourself killed." He said it with nonchalance, but he knew that he would skewer the first man who even came close to harming her.  
"Okay – so do we start now?"  
He stood up and sashayed across the deck, and she thought for a moment that he had changed his mind. But then just a couple minutes later, he emerged from the captain's quarters holding a long, silver sword in his hand. He reached her and handed it over. She grasped the black handle and took it as he unsheathed his own sword, it glinting in the bright sun.  
"All right, now I think the first thing you'll need to know how to do is parry." 'Let's see if she has any skill,' he thought.  
"Okay." She held her sword up in front of her.  
He swiftly brought his sword down and across, inches from her stomach.  
"You see, I could have just sliced you open. THAT is why you need to parry. Now I'm going to do it again, and this time I want you to block it, undastand?"  
"Yeah." She nodded.  
He swung his blade down a second time and now, she managed to block it with her own.  
"Very good." Then, without warning, he lifted his sword and slashed the air in front of her stomach again. "You need to be ready for things like that."  
"Okay, do it again." She tried to mentally prepare herself.  
He brought the shining blade down and across and she instantly countered, and when he lifted it and tried again, she did once more. He continued repeating the move until she had mastered the block.  
"All right, let's try this," he said. With only those few words as warning, he swung the sword straight at her neck, and her immediate reaction was to duck. "Very good." A small grin came to his face. Maybe she did have a knack for this; or it was just reflexes. "That's exactly what you were supposed to do."  
She smiled, satisfied with herself as she rose back up. Her smile disappeared, however, as he suddenly swung out again. She dropped to the deck.  
"You have good reflexes. For a woman." He added the second sentence to irritate her, to get her to fight back more.  
She brought her sword at him and he easily parried, then swung his back at her. She swiftly blocked it, but this time he didn't pull away. She could feel the pressure of his sword pushing against hers and it was starting to hurt her hand and wrist.  
"When this happens, you let go and duck," he told her. He knew that would be easier for her than trying to get her to push him off and continue fighting.  
She complied, pulling her sword away, and as his came at her she dropped down.  
"Good."  
They practiced those moves until she had them down, and then Jack moved on to something else.  
"Now, if someone comes at your legs, you either jump up or back, depending on how much of the blade is coming at you. You have ta pay attention ta that." He struck out at her legs, and as it came slicing through the air she quickly observed how much of the blade was going to try and collide with her. She decided it was too much to jump back, and so she jumped up, forgetting to pull her legs up with her. The side of the blade hit her leg. "The bottom of your legs are gone, love," he said, grinning slightly, obviously amused.  
"Do it again," she told him, determined to get it right.  
He brought the sword back and once more swung it at her legs, and now, she jumped up and pulled her legs up as well. The blade cut through thin air and she landed back on the deck.  
"Betta." He struck out again, and she jumped backwards this time, deciding that there was only a small amount of the blade coming at her. The blade missed – she smiled again in satisfaction.  
"Ha," she said. He swung at her again, and she wasn't ready for it. The side of the blade once again hit her leg, and she narrowed her eyes at him. He only grinned at her.  
They spent some time practicing those moves, and after he said, "Now if someone sticks their sword straight out at you, you have to push it to the side with yours." He stuck out his sword – he was far enough away so that it wouldn't touch her – and she brought hers up, knocking it to the side. "Let's try that again – you have to push it away BEFORE I'm able to stab you." He began to try again, and she swiftly his blade with hers and shoved it to the side before he had even stretched his arm out.  
After they went through that a few more times, he said, "Now to teach you how to actually hurt them."  
'Finally,' she thought. 'That's what I WANT to do.' She couldn't wait to use one of these on those evil, disgusting pigs.  
"Swing your sword out at me," he ordered. She did – he parried. "Not that easy."  
"Obviously."  
"You have to try to confuse them. Make them think you're going fa one spot, then attack in a different spot." He raised his eyebrows.  
She struck out at his legs, then as he went to jump, she quickly struck out at his chest. Since he had been in midair, it was easy for him to block it. She swore under her breath.  
"That would have been pretty good, if you had started somewhere otha than my legs."  
"So where should I start?"  
"Side, arm, stomach. . ." He moved his free hand in circles as he listed the options. "Things like that."  
"Okay. . ." She made a quick decision to start at his arm, and when she did, he countered, then she moved to stab him in the stomach. He blocked that as well.  
"Much betta." They both knew that she wouldn't be capable of actually getting him, but they did knew that she could practice the moves.  
And so that was what they did for quite a while, until she got the gist of it.  
"Now to show you how to properly swing." He held his sword out to the side, then swiftly swung it out in front of him, and she could hear it as it slashed through the air.  
She tried to copy him; she sword ended up flying out of her hand and landing about seven feet away with a clang. She tried not to laugh at herself as she went over and picked it up.  
"Try again," he told her.  
She did, and this time she held onto it, but ended up almost hitting herself in the head with the end of the blade after she swung it. She felt like an idiot – she didn't want to embarrass herself in front of him, though she felt she had probably already accomplished that.  
"Okay, here, let me show you," he said, sheathing his sword and going over to her. He stood behind her and put one hand on her left shoulder, the other on her right arm, the one that had a hold of her sword. She inhaled sharply at his touch, but said nothing. "Like this." She heard his voice right next to her ear, and it sounded very low and quiet, sending shivers of delight cascading down her spine. He moved her arm and the sword swung out in front of her, this time not becoming airborne, or smacking her in the head. It was perfect.  
She felt his hand slide down and come to rest on her side. Her right arm fell and she knew what was about to happen. She readied herself for it.  
She slowly turned her head around to look up at him – he was gazing down at her, his chocolate brown eyes holding hers as if nothing in the world could ever make him look away. Before she knew it, his face was coming closer, and soon their lips met in a passionate kiss.  
She closed her eyes and felt as if she were floating; just floating in the air. No, better than that, she had just been flown to heaven. Everything else seemed to just fade away, and she wanted that moment to last forever. She wished for time to just stop; all the watches in the world could stop ticking, all the people could stop moving, the Earth could stop spinning; just so she could prolong it; just so she could keep this beautiful instant going until the sun burned out in the sky.  
But eventually he pulled away and was still staring down at her. She was brought back to reality, though she didn't want to be there.  
'What am I doing?!' she suddenly realized. 'My two best friends are on a pirate ship miles away, who knows what's happening to them, and I'm here kissing Jack! What's wrong with me?!' She felt horrible, as if she didn't deserve to live. At that moment, she just wanted to crawl into a hole as overwhelming guilt washed over her.  
She dropped the sword and ran into the captain's quarters, closing the door behind her.  
  
A/N: You like? I hope you like. Next chapter will be up very soon! 


	9. Unwanted Attention And Lockdown

As usual, I'm wishing that I owned Pirates of the Caribbean, especially Jack Sparrow, but I don't. . .  
  
Chapter Nine  
  
Kelsey and Julie had been confined to a room that contained only a large bed and a few chairs. Virtually nothing compared to Jack's quarters aboard the Black Pearl, which had held a large bed, a cot, a wooden table complete with chairs, a bookcase, and a hefty cupboard that retained his many swords.  
Kelsey had so far spent her time locked in there venting her frustration by repeatedly delivering severe blows to the pillows on the bed, kicking the wall with such force Julie swore her foot was ready to go right through, and swearing. Julie had never heard so many four-letter words strung together in all her life, even from her bitch of a mother. It had never taken that much to get Kelsey mad; it was actually quite easy; so now one could only fathom the depths of the utter rage she was experiencing.  
Julie sat on one of the chairs, trying her best to keep her distance, wishing not to get in the way and be hurt by her friend's rampage. She knew that Kelsey would not express her aggravation against her, but she did know that if she interfered while the other girl was taking it out on everything else around her, she would presumably get severely injured whether her friend meant for her to or not. Kelsey had never been one to keep calm very often, particularly in situations like this. Of course she had never been in a predicament like this before, but it was one of the most dreadful and distressing and it angered her to know that she was being kept prisoner against her will with very little knowledge of what anyone on this ship was arranging, besides the obvious.  
At first Kelsey had hammered on the door with her fists several times until it stung and screamed for the "assholes to let her out," but after a large amount of time with no response to this she moved on to beating the pillows and walls, sometimes the mattress as well, as if they were punching bags, and Julie was just waiting to see stuffing start coming out of them.  
Julie knew better than to even utter a word to her; after all, she wasn't imprudent. If she made any effort at all to calm Kelsey down, she knew whatever she could come up with would only fall on deaf ears and it would just be a futile attempt. She'd doubtlessly wind up getting her ears blown out as well. So once Kelsey had begun her storm of fury, Julie had taken a seat as far away as she could manage and had stayed silent. She guessed that Kelsey hadn't been this violent when they were first transported onto the ship, but then again she hadn't really established what was transpiring. Now that she did, she wasn't about to just sit there and do nothing about it.  
Julie also assumed that in all probability the reason that the crew had yet to enter was a result of Kelsey's rebellion; who would want to deal with that? Knowing Kelsey, it would take at least six of them to restrain her, and Julie presumed that they didn't really feel up to fighting her much. She couldn't blame them. She had angered her friend before – no fun there.  
It was at least an hour before Kelsey finally relaxed – well, at least until she finished attempting to kill everything around her. Julie couldn't exactly be sure of how long it was; she didn't have a watch, and the captain had no clock in his cabin. She wasn't extremely bothered; she was just appreciative of the fact that Kelsey had stopped. The girl scared her when she acted like that.  
Now her friend took a seat on the bed, breathing rather heavily. Her eyes showed nothing but anger as she stared at the wall.  
Julie wasn't convinced it was entirely safe to get up, but she chose to risk it. Maybe now she could try to talk to Kelsey without getting her head ripped off.  
She slowly stood and cautiously walked over to the other girl, half expecting her to turn and started bellowing some more. When she didn't, she placed herself on the bed, a couple feet from her. At first she said nothing, almost too anxious to speak. After about a minute or so, she said timidly, "Kelsey?"  
Kelsey didn't react for quite a few moments. Then she slowly turned her head to look at her friend. She had that dead-serious look on her face that had always intimidated Julie, who was such a passive person. She didn't reply.  
Julie could think of naught to say at first. She wanted to say something, anything, that would comfort and calm Kelsey, but she hadn't a clue if that was possible at the moment. She gathered her thoughts together and then spoke gently, "We're gonna get off this ship. Ariana's still on the Black Pearl and she'll be coming after us. She'll get to us before we reach that cave. Don't worry. Everything'll be okay."  
Kelsey was almost in disbelief, though she didn't show it. How could this girl possibly think that everything was going to be okay? What was going through her mind? Did she really feel that they would disembark from this ship before they reached the cave? There was no way it was going to happen, and she knew it. What were the chances of the Black Pearl finding them before they got there? There _were_ no chances. "If you think that we're going to get off this ship, then something is seriously wrong with you."  
"Okay, just listen to me. Ariana can convince Jack to come after us, if he hasn't already. They're gonna reach us before we get there. I –"  
"It's not going to happen." She said it with such a serious tone that Julie was taken aback for a moment. "Don't you get it?"  
She didn't respond for several seconds, unsure of what to say. She didn't want to anger Kelsey any more, but it was essential that she make her understand that all hope was not lost. Not yet, anyway. "Look, I know you're pissed off and everything, I am too. But we have to look on the positive side."  
"Oh? And what side is that? That side doesn't exist. Only in your screwed up mind." Kelsey tended to be rather cruel when she was angry, and she often said things she didn't mean, but her true friends knew deep down she loved them. But right now she wasn't concerned.  
"It _does_ exist, you just don't believe in it. You have to believe in it." She was aware of how ridiculous she sounded, but it really had no matter to her at the moment.  
Kelsey looked at her with a "you're insane" look and replied, "That's pathetic. That is really pathetic." She also had a tendency to use that word.  
"Yeah, maybe it is. But so what? Who cares? How do you _know_ that Ariana and Jack aren't on their way right now?" She tried a different tactic; see if Kelsey could answer truthfully, because the truth was exactly what she didn't want to say.  
"Because I just do, all right?" She was sick of arguing about this.  
"No, not all right. Tell me you believe that they're coming for us."  
"You're an idiot."  
"Tell me! I wanna hear it!" She ignored Kelsey's last comment.  
"Fine. You're an idiot!"  
"You know that's not what I was talking about."  
"I don't care."  
"God, you're stubborn!"  
"Yep, that's me!" Her tone was dry.  
"Okay, fine. Be that way. We'll see what you think when Ariana and Jack come and save us."  
"Whatever." Her friend then turned and lay flat down on her stomach across the bed.  
Julie stayed where she was, deliberating. She was right, wasn't she? Ariana had to have told Jack to come and rescue them. They were her best friends; it would've been the first thing she did. Nothing mattered more to her than her friends; friendship was a big thing with her. So Julie knew that she had ordered Jack to come after them. But what if Jack had said no? What if he didn't care and they weren't on their way? Was he that heartless? He couldn't be. Could he? No. No way. She didn't believe it. After all, they were only teenagers; he had to save them.  
She was ripped from her thoughts by the sound of loud, thumping footsteps. She snapped her head in the direction of the door and she could hear them growing louder, coming closer. Her heart began beating rapidly as she realized that it was the pirates, and large knot grew immediately in her stomach as she felt an icy chill of fear. Kelsey had stopped screaming her head off and pulverizing everything in sight, so now they were prepared to take advantage of that.  
Kelsey had jumped up from the bed the minute she heard the footsteps and now she was ordering Julie to do the same.  
"Why?"  
"Just get off! NOW! And help me!"  
Julie complied and watched as Kelsey began to try and push the bed. She realized what she was doing and ran around to help. Together they shoved with all their might, and her back started to hurt as they got close to the door. About ten or fifteen seconds later, the bed was firmly up against it, keeping anyone who attempted to get in out.  
"Ow. Back. Pain," Julie lightly complained, stretching backwards and putting a hand on her back.  
"Suck it up," Kelsey told her. She was always being tough. She never showed any real emotions; sadness, hurt, pain. She thought they were weak, and had been burned in the past for showing them. Julie sort of admired her for that – only because she was able to hold her emotions in when it was necessary and stay strong. If you showed people you had no weakness, they would leave you alone. Julie had never had that ability. She tried to be tough, but it never worked. Whenever she did, she more often than not was laughed at because it was so obvious.  
They both jumped slightly as the pirates outside began ramming forcefully into the door.  
"Ye can' stay cooped up fureva!" they heard one yell.  
"Says you!" Kelsey shouted back. Then she turned to Julie. "Anything else we can pile up here?"  
The other girl searched the room with her eyes, and her gaze fell upon the chairs. "Yeah! The chairs!"  
The two of them ran over, took hold of them, and raced back to the door. Kelsey positioned hers so that one leg was under the doorknob and across the thin crack between the door and the wall. Julie threw hers beside it. They placed the third one on top of the other two and stepped back.  
The pirates outside were still beating on the door and bellowing threats. Some of them were cursing over and over.  
Julie was frightened that they would somehow break down the wooden door or chop through it with something; that wouldn't be too difficult. Kelsey just grinned; if she was scared, Julie had no idea. She certainly didn't appear scared. In fact, she seemed rather amused.  
Her grin suddenly evaporated and her eyes widened as she was seized from behind. Julie spun to see one of the crewmembers, looking very smug. He had a hold of both Kelsey's arms and was looking down at her with an expression Julie didn't care for at all.  
"Ello, lass," he said to Kelsey.  
"How the fuck did you get in here?" she asked him angrily, all the while kicking him repeatedly in the legs, but to no avail. Every time she brought her foot back it was like hitting wood. Very thick wood.  
"Tha's fer me ta know."  
"And for us to find out." She _would_ find out, whether he wanted her to or not. However he got in, they could use to get out.  
"No, no' exactly."  
"Let me go!" She thrashed violently.  
"No, ah don' t'ink so."  
_He sounds like such an idiot_, Julie thought. _The way he talks is way past elementary; he sounds like he has mental issues_. The only pirate she knew of that didn't sound like a complete dunce when he spoke was Jack.  
She was afraid of telling him to let Kelsey go, or say a word to anger him. She had no idea what he was capable of, and she didn't want him to hurt either one of them. He could let the other pirates in through whatever way he had come in as well.  
So she just stood there anxiously, unsure of what to do while her friend tried with all her power to free herself.  
The pirate's head suddenly snapped up to look at Julie. "If ye try anythin', I'll do worse than wha' ah'm 'bout ta do. Undastand?"  
She gave a barely noticeable nod in reply and he grinned. "Good. Yer next, by the way." Then he whipped Kelsey around so that she was facing him, and swiftly shoved her against the wall, holding her there by pinning her shoulders back. Her struggles were in vain as he pressed his body against hers, and she could smell his putrid, rancid breath as his face came closer to hers. She felt ready to vomit as he slid his hands down to her sides and around to her bottom, pulling her even closer, if that was at all possible. She already felt more violated than she could ever remember being before. With her eyes, she tried to tell Julie to do something, anything, but it didn't seem like she understood. _Dammit!_ she thought angrily. _Come on, help me!_ "I'm goin to enjoy 'dis," he said, grinning again and showing off gray and yellowed teeth.  
She curled her upper lip in disgust and again attempted to push him away, but didn't budge an inch. She tried to shift herself out of his grasp, squirming and sliding, but that had no effect either. He was too close for her to even stab at the idea of kicking him; she was unable to move her legs. She had no way of escape. _I'm screwed if Julie doesn't do something soon_, she thought gloomily. _Literally screwed_. She tried to push the thought from her mind and focus on getting away from him.  
He spread her legs with his knees and moved in between them. She could feel him against her and she swallowed the bile that was rising in her throat.  
"Get the fuck off me!" she screamed in the utterly dangerous voice that she only used when she was so angry that she could walk through the fires of hell and not notice; but it did no good.   
She could feel his hands move from her bottom to her shirt, and she could feel, actually _feel_ the grime on them as they slipped under onto her flat stomach and began moving up. She squirmed and fidgeted as much as she could, but it didn't help in the least. He leaned in towards her face and she pressed her lips together as tightly as she could manage and turned her face to the side, away. But he simply reached up and grabbed her chin with one hand, and the moment his repulsive, oily lips touched hers he was suddenly thrown away from her. He fell heavily to the floor, unconscious, and she looked over at Julie, who was holding one of the chairs in both her hands. She was shaking. She had had enough of the sight before her and had made the decision to stop him, after much debating with her fear. She couldn't believe what she had just done. She had forgotten her fright in those few seconds that she had grabbed the chair from the top of the bed and swung it as hard as she could. Kelsey took a closer look at the chair and raised her eyebrows. Julie had hit him so fiercely that she had cracked the object.  
Kelsey came over to her. "Oh my God, thank you _so_ much. It took ya long enough!" She really was grateful; but had Julie waited much longer. . .she didn't want to think about it. She felt so filthy, still remembering his touch.  
"Well I'm sorry, okay? I just. . .got scared, that's all." She had never done anything so violent in all her life as what she just did.  
"Scared of _him_?" she said, throwing a thumb over her shoulder at the unconscious pirate. "Please." What was there to be scared of? He was just a brainless pervert with muscles who preferred to think with his lower half rather than his brain. And if someone doesn't know how to use their brain. . .they most likely can't do much.  
"We have to find out how he got in here," Julie said, lowering the chair to the floor.  
"Yup." She looked around the room, searching for another entrance. She found none. She walked close to the walls and began looking them up and down, moving slowly around the room. Julie followed suite.  
"And there it is," Kelsey announced. Julie came over to her to see.  
"What? What is it?"  
The other girl pointed to a hole at the bottom of the wall, just big enough for an adult to crawl through. They both got down on their hands and knees to look through.  
It was a short tunnel; at the end there looked to be another room, which caught their attention.  
"Come on, let's go," Julie said, immediately starting to move into it. Kelsey grabbed her shirt and pulled her back.  
"Hold on. We don't know who else could be in there."  
"No one! It's obviously his room."  
Kelsey sighed. "If we get caught in there, it's your fault." She would humor her this once, in return for her incapacitation of the pirate.  
Julie scrambled through the hole eagerly as her friend followed behind.  
They came out on the other side and stood, taking in the room they were now in. It was rather sparse; a bed, a desk, and a chair.  
"Not much better than the other room," Kelsey spoke with distaste.  
Julie walked over to the desk and began searching through the drawers, hoping to find something useful. She spotted a bunch of nails in the top drawer and took them out. "Can we use these?" she asked Kelsey, holding them up.  
"Maybe." She took them from her, and she continued rifling through the drawers.  
"Found this," she said about a minute or so later, holding up a hammer. That, too, Kelsey took. "Nothing else," she announced after a short time.  
"Are you sure?"  
"Yeah."  
"Positive?" She didn't want to run the risk of overlooking something of importance that they could possibly use to their advantage.  
"Yes!"  
"Damn. Let's go then."  
"Wait! Don't you think we should go up on deck? I mean, we can get out right now! This room isn't locked, and we could go up and take one of the rowboats!" She sounded hopeful, and waited for her friend's response.  
Kelsey contemplated the idea. They could do that, and then they could row until they found the Black Pearl. But what were the chances of that? And there was so much danger in the plan anyway – first of all, there was getting caught while trying to steal the boat, which was what had happened before. Even if they _did_ make it out to the ocean, there were sharks, which could easily flip the boat over or chew it up. They could starve. Another pirate ship could find them and kidnap them. If they stayed on this ship, they would be safer. Not safe, but safer. All they had to do was keep anyone from getting in, and they would be fine. She hoped. "No. Bad idea. We should stay on the ship."  
"What? Why?"  
"Because we'd be safer! If we go up on deck, they can easily get us while we're tying to take the rowboat." She didn't feel like listing all the things that could go wrong.  
"But – but – how do you know?" She just wanted to get off the ship. That was the only thing on her mind. She needed to get off this godforsaken floating piece of hell, away from this sickening, vulgar crew.  
"Because I do, okay?"  
God did she hate that answer. "I'm not going back in that room."  
"Oh yes you are! We'll use the nails to board up the hole with something, and just stay in there till we reach the cave. Then when we get there, if they finally do manage to get us out, we'll try to escape after they take us off the ship." It sounded simple enough, but she knew it wouldn't be. But she wasn't about to say that.  
Julie considered it. It seemed like an okay plan; but she wanted to get off the ship so badly! She just wanted to get away, as far away as she could. "Fine," she reluctantly agreed after a few minutes of deliberation.  
"Good. Let's go."  
The two crawled back through the hole, but this time, while they were inside the tunnel, Kelsey picked up what looked to be boards that were strewn about haphazardly and carried them back to the room.  
"What are those?" Julie asked as they emerged.  
"What do they look like? They're boards. I found them in the tunnel. They must be from when that guy or whoever broke the walls to create it."  
"And why do we need them?"  
"So we can board up the hole, idiot." She hadn't meant to sound so harsh, but she wasn't in a very hospitable mood.  
"Oh yeah."  
"Yeah. But first we need to get this guy out of here, 'cause he's gonna wake up eventually."  
"Okay, help me."  
Kelsey set down the tools and boards and strode over to the unconscious man. She didn't want to touch him; she felt as if he was going to unexpectedly grab her and try to finish what he had started. Her skin was still crawling at the memory of what he _had_ gotten accomplished. She picked up his arms as Julie picked up his legs. They tried to lift him – and barely got him an inch off the floor.  
"Okay, he is _way_ too heavy," Julie said.  
"Ya think?" Kelsey replied sarcastically. "Let's just push him then."  
"Good idea."  
They both pushed and rolled him into the hole, stuffing him through it with difficulty, all the way to the other end, where he fell out into his room. Then they quickly crawled back to the cabin and snatched up the boards, hammer, and nails. They placed the first board at the top of the hole and started hammering the nails into the sides. Once the first one was done, they did the second, then the third, all the way down to the bottom, making sure there were absolutely no cracks between them.  
Once they were finished, they took the chairs and pushed them up against the boards, then sat back and stood.  
"Much better," Kelsey said, satisfied.  
The pirates that had been pounding thunderously on the door and shouting at the top of their lungs seemed to have finally given up, and all was quiet.  
  
A/N: Okay, this chapter was just to show what was happening to Kelsey and Julie. Kay? Kay. And it's my longest chapter so far. Go me. Please review! 


	10. Futile Attempt

Despite my wishing, I still do not own Pirates of the Caribbean, or Jack Sparrow, or anything, besides this story. Poo.  
  
Chapter Ten  
  
Jack gave Ariana more sword fighting lessons, but now he did nothing other than that. It was strictly teaching her how to defend herself, and that was all. He decided to give her time; what he had done had been stupid. He hadn't been thinking. He was sure it would have been perfect at any other time, but not now; not when her friends were in danger. He deserved to be slapped for what he had done, particularly since he had enjoyed it.  
She was improving – they would have small duels and she would become better and better with the moves and defenses. He knew that he was an excellent teacher. He actually felt rather proud of her, an emotion that he hadn't experienced for as long as he could remember. She was growing to be a fine swordswoman.  
It had been but a day since her first lesson, and now the lookout in the crow's nest called down urgently, "Cap'n, I see a ship!"  
"Where is it?" Jack yelled back, pausing their current lesson.  
"On the 'orizon!"  
Jack headed to his quarters and emerged a few seconds later with a telescope. He pointed it in the direction of the lookout's gaze and, sure enough, there was a small black dot that he could make out. "Well, it looks like we're catching up," he said, leaving to return the telescope back to his cabin.  
"We are? Good!" Ariana replied, overjoyed. They were going to save them. . .they were right there, in viewing distance; they would catch up, and that son of a bitch captain would never get to see their blood or harm them at all. . .finally!  
Jack reappeared and gazed out at the horizon, a gleam in his eye. "Shouldn't be long now."  
  
The Fearless dropped anchor at the side of the island, not far from the sandy shore. Kelsey and Julie felt the ship come to a halt.  
They had not had anymore trouble from the crew or captain since the incident the day before; Kelsey supposed the crewmember must have come to eventually and informed them of what had happened, and that kept them away. That and the fact that they really couldn't get in anyway.  
"I think we're there," Julie said.  
"Well yeah, obviously." Kelsey didn't say another word; she was listening for any noise whatsoever that could indicate the pirates were coming to get them.  
And, needless to say, not a minute later, they heard the pounding, heavy footsteps approaching ominously, the same sound as the day before. Knots once again formed themselves quickly in Julie's stomach, tightening it up. Kelsey remained standing where she was, once again showing no sign of fear, just alertness.  
Julie jumped involuntarily as the top of the door, which was uncovered by the bed, which only reached to not even the middle, was suddenly smashed in by a table, sending pieces of wood flying everywhere. The two girls backed up as they saw the entire crew standing there, grins galore.  
_So they could've gotten in at any time, if they had chosen to_, Kelsey realized. She just couldn't win.  
Julie would've given anything to be anywhere else, even in a hole somewhere. As long as she wasn't here, trapped in this room, death possibly imminent in her future. She was so terrified of this fact that she stood frozen to the spot, unable to move as they began to climb through the now- smashed doorway and over the bed. Her fear was like ice in her veins, just rooting her to the floor, and if she tried to move, she would fall and break into a million pieces.  
Kelsey seized Julie's hand and yanked her back to the far wall, as far away as she could possibly get, nearly toppling her friend over. They pressed themselves against the wood, as if willing it to suck them in and spit them out on the other side. The crew was approaching them and there was no other way out except for the doorway through which they were clambering. The hole was boarded up, so that was no use to them as well.  
"We try to escape outside, got it?" Kelsey muttered quietly to Julie, so that only her friend could hear.  
"Yeah," Julie whispered back, petrified that the pirates would perceive her voice. What would they do if they knew what she and Kelsey were planning? She shuddered at the thought.  
Two of them took hold of Kelsey, and another two grabbed Julie. The girls did not try to get away this time.  
The entire group of men was laughing menacingly as they carried them up on deck and off the large ship. They both took deep breaths of fresh air, which felt delightful after being cooped up in the stale, small room. Kelsey restrained herself from shoving her foot right where it would injure them most; she would have the pleasure of doing that in just a minute's time.  
Once they reached the solid ground of the beach, Julie looked at Kelsey, who nodded her head. Julie took a deep, readying breath and tried to ignore the painful knots in her stomach, which were still there. _You can do this_, she told herself. After another few steadying breaths, she swiftly stepped down as hard as she could on both the pirates' feet, and received practically no reaction except more laughter. _Well let's see who'll be laughing when I do this_, she thought, and then raised her legs and kicked back into their groins, using all the anger she had built up to put power behind it. She may have not been a violent person, but when it came to her life, she did care.  
They released her immediately and doubled over, moaning in pain. She grinned with satisfaction. _That's what being a man gets you_, she thought bitterly as she turned to her friend.  
Kelsey had elbowed both of her captors in the stomach, and then repeated Julie's move; kicking them both in the groin. But no matter how hard Julie had brought her feet back, it was nothing compared to Kelsey. That girl used her rage to her advantage and she used it well.  
The two of them then ran as hastily as they could, flying down the beach, wishing to be as far from Captain Shallows and his crew as achievable, and construct a real plan.  
"How about we hide, and then when they come looking for us, we steal the ship?" Kelsey suggested as they sprinted, her words coming out in short gasps already.  
"Do you know how to sail a ship?" Julie asked her, her words not coming out as choppy since she took track at school.  
"No, but it can't be _too_ hard."  
"I don't know – we could try it, but I doubt that we'll be able to even pull the anchor up by ourselves."  
"Oh yeah, I forgot about that. . ." Now what were they going to do? Julie had a point – they couldn't do much without a crew, especially pull up the anchor. They would need more people to accomplish that; the two of them alone certainly were not strong enough to do it themselves. That meant that even if they _did_ get onto the ship, they wouldn't even be able to sail away from the island. There was no other way to escape. Unless. . . She looked out at the ocean and was instantly filled with hope, something she hadn't felt in quite a while. This was just pure luck; at least she believed it was.  
There was a ship approaching; she could see it, just barely. It looked like a large dot. It had to be the Black Pearl – she _prayed_ that it was, she wished with everything in her that she was correct. Ariana and Jack were their only hope, the only way they would get off this damned island.  
"Julie!" she said excitedly, still looking out at the ship.  
"What?"  
"Look at the ocean!"  
Julie turned her head and instantly her fear evaporated, leaving her, along with the knots in her stomach as she gazed at the dot that was advancing towards them. It was Ariana and Jack; it had to be. She knew it was. She felt herself smile with happiness and a renewed sense of hope. Everything would be all right.  
That was when she felt large, rough hands on her arms and she was jerked back, losing her balance and her joyful expression. She would have fallen had it not been for the pirate that was holding her up. Kelsey was yanked back as well, and they could hear the crew starting up their laughter once more as they spun them around. Captain Shallows strode up to them, hands clasped behind his back.  
"Ye though' tha' ye could get away from me?" he asked, eyebrows raised, an amused look upon his ugly face.  
"Anyone with a brain would want to get away from you," Kelsey spat viciously, narrowing her eyes at him.  
Anger flashed dangerously in his eyes and he asked, "An' wha' exactly were ye lookin' at ou' there?"  
Dread overcame the both of them as he turned his gaze to the water, and at the ship that was nearing them. He grinned maliciously.  
"So ah see tha' yer li'le friend came fer ye, jus' like ah though' she would. And tha' means tha' Jack Sparrow's wit' 'er! This should be excitin'." He was going to kill Jack Sparrow, and he was going to enjoy it. He was going to take more pleasure from it than anything he had ever done before. He had had enough of that man; had had to put up with him for years, never beating him, never winning. The pirate was a clever man and Shallows had learned that many a time. But this time – this time would be different. And then, once he was done with him, he would get the brats' blood and give them to the crew; see how they liked that. That little wench wouldn't be so tough once they got done with her. Everything was going his way.  
"That's _Captain_ Jack Sparrow," Kelsey told him. She could tell by the look on his face that she had annoyed him, and she was glad. "A better captain than you'll ever dream to be."  
He kept his anger in check, knowing that he could do what he pleased with her later. "We'll jus' see 'bout tha'." With that, he spun around and stalked swiftly back down the beach towards the spot they had dropped anchor, his crew behind him. The two girls were still trying every move they could think of to break free, using all the strength they could muster.  
  
Ariana stood at the bow of the ship, leaning forward as if it would bring her closer more quickly, staring intently at the island in front of her. She could just make it out; she couldn't very well see anything but the shape and the land. As they got closer, she made out a ship – The Fearless. _Kelsey and Julie are on the island_, she realized. _Probably at the cave right now_. If she didn't get there soon, they could be killed. 


	11. Blood Spilled and Predicted Escapes

I own nothing. You know that! I own the story, sure, but the movie. . .no. . .Jack Sparrow. . .no. . .  
  
Chapter Eleven  
  
Jack had suspected that something like this would happen. You could even call it predictable. How could anyone expect to follow another pirate crew into a cave and not be ambushed? It was plain to see that this had been planned and would occur. He had _known_, and yet he had still just gone right in, ignoring his common sense, like a dog fetching a bone. That's what it was – just plain logic. Why did his judgment have to fail him? Why this time? If you think you can follow a rival pirate crew into a cave and be fine, sensible is not in your vocabulary. He had had his mind so completely focused on heading in and killing the entire crew, along with their goddamned captain, that he hadn't stopped to think what he would do if there was a trick of any sort. He hadn't thought at all, and he wanted to kick himself for it.  
"Why 'ello there, Jack," Captain Shallows said, striding over to him smugly. "Ah see ye walked righ' inta the trap, jus' like ah though' ye would. Knew ye would, actually, thanks te yer li'le friends. It was almos' easy, the way they was jus' starin' ou' at the wata. Ye t'ink tha' wouldn' get someone's attention? They made it so obvious it was funny." He grinned slightly, and a few of his crewmembers laughed. Jack wanted to take out his pistil and shoot the bastard right in his black heart, and he would have, if it weren't for about twenty or thirty other pistols pointed at him and his crew, ready to blow their heads off at the slightest movement.  
"And how do you know I didn't walk inta the trap on purpose, mate?" he asked, slightly shaking his head as he talked and causing the beads in his hair to clink together, the only other noise in the entire cave besides his voice. Maybe he could try to confuse Shallows, make him believe that he really had walked into it intentionally; that way he may just have a chance of convincing him that he knew of all his plans, and could try and make a deal with him somehow. That could work, he had done it before. . .in fact, it was his specialty.  
Captain Shallows seemed at a loss for words for a few moments as he considered what Jack had just said. Had he really known about the ambush? But even if he had, what good did it do him now? He was caught, and so was his crew. There wasn't much he could do at this point. So what was he playing at? He had better not have anything up his sleeve, or any tricks planned. That would be just like him. . .too much like him. . .  
"If ye did, wha' do ye t'ink ye could do now?" he asked finally, after eyeing the other man suspiciously. "Yer caught. And so is yer crew, and so is yer li'le lass there."  
Ariana hated how he called her Jack's "little lass." He made it sound as if they were sleeping together, which they certainly were _not_, and she had no intention of any time soon, either. She wanted to kill this man, this horrible, evil man who had no heart and only wicked intentions, never caring about anyone else's benefit but his own. She wished to just take her sword, march right up to him, and shove it through his chest. That would shut him up. He was the cause of all her fury; it was his fault she was in this situation, and she hated him for it, hated him more than anyone else she had ever resented in her entire life.  
"So what if we're caught?" she said to him. "Jack can find a way out of this, he always does." Anger was all that could be heard in her voice, rage boiling just beneath the surface – and at the moment it was all she could feel, heating up her bloodstream, coursing through her veins.  
Jack grinned as she spoke. So she knew of him, knew that he always managed to get himself out of trouble. He _had_ always prided himself on coming up with some of the brilliant plans that he did. _Well_, he thought, _this won't be any different_. He would find a way out of this; he had to, for Ariana's sake.  
"No' this time," Shallows replied humorlessly as he stretched out his arm, catching two pieces of rope that one of his crewmembers threw to him. He sauntered up to Jack and pulled his arms roughly behind his back, tying his wrists together tightly with one of the ropes. Then he moved to Ariana and did the same with the second rope. As he did, her sword fell from her hand and landed on the ground with a clang that seemed to echo throughout the whole cave, the sound bouncing off the walls and ricocheting around. "Yer comin' wit' me, lass," he said to her, rather close to her ear, sending a sudden, unpleasant chill down her spine. But before he did anything, he walked over to Jack and leaned in close to his ear, so that only he could hear him.  
"Afta this is done, and you're dead, ah'm gonna let me _whole_ crew play wit' 'er. Migh' even 'ave a bit o' fun meself." At these words, Jack's eyes blazed with immeasurable hatred and a fire so angry that it startled Ariana, who had been watching him. He lunged at Shallows, but the Fearless' crew quickly held him back, grabbing his shoulders and clothing. He thrashed violently, and seeing that it was getting him nowhere, stopped and took a step forward, all that they would allow. He pushed his face close to Shallows'.  
"You lay one hand on her, and I'll rip out your throat," he threatened in a low, dangerous voice, a mad gleam in his eye. He would not let this man befoul an innocent girl, especially this girl. He would not allow him to make a single move; if he did, Jack gave a rat's ass if he was tied or not, he would get his gun and blow a hole in the bastard's head. The last thing he would ever permit this man to do was get anywhere even close to that act of complete immorality, commit that disgusting sin, not while there was still air in his lungs. He'd put a pistol to his own head before allowing that to happen.  
Shallows just gave a wicked, quiet laugh and stepped back, grabbing Ariana's arm and pulling her away from Jack, leading her to the other side of the cave. She had no idea of the words exchanged between the two men, only that it had made Jack so furious she swore she had seen the very devil in his eyes, and that worried her greatly. What had Shallows said to him?  
She saw her friends standing against the wall, both tied up as well. Kelsey looked immensely infuriated – nothing new there. As Ariana looked at them, all the hope that had once filled her drained out and was replaced by trepidation. How was she going to manage her way out of this? How was Jack going to? She, Kelsey, Julie, and he were all bound and targets of numerous surrounding pistols. Jack's crew could do nothing as well, so they essentially had no potential way to escape. _Just great_, she thought dryly. _Perfect_.  
He stopped pulling her when he reached Kelsey, and then turned to face the three of them. "Now, ah'll be needin' ta know yer ages," he told them. He had to make sure that they were all still _children_, for that was whose blood would work.  
Julie looked as if she was ready to reply, but Kelsey cut her off, saying, "We're not telling you anything!" If he didn't know their ages, he couldn't use their blood, because he couldn't be sure if it would be effective or not.  
"At least one o' ya isn't of age, er else the medallion wouldn' o' pulled ye here!" he replied, getting frustrated. "Maybe ah'll just spill each o' yer blood, one by one, ta see which one it is."  
They knew he was right; they _wouldn't _have been brought if at least one of them wasn't still a child. The threat made them realize he didn't care how much harm came to them, as long as he opened the doors. They didn't respond, too frightened to say the wrong thing – even Kelsey.  
"Fine then, if ye wan' ta be tha' way," he said after looking each one in the eye. He pulled out his pistol and marched across the cave to Jack. Once he reached him, he put the gun to his temple, and Jack could feel the cold of the barrel against his skin. "Ye tell me yer ages or ah kill 'im, savvy?" He knew this would work; they cared about the captain. And if it didn't work, then that would just give him a reason to kill him.  
The only noticeable reaction that Jack had to this threat was the raising of his eyebrows. Other than that, no one could even hint at the idea that it had any affect on him. That was the way he wanted it.  
Ariana inhaled sharply and was prepared to divulge any information the man wanted to know, as long as he didn't harm Jack. If he killed him, she would rip out his insides with her sword.  
When Shallows didn't pull the gun away after several seconds, she knew he was not bluffing. "Seventeen." She knew that she should not have said a word, particularly that one, but she would rather die than watch that fate come to Jack right before her eyes.  
Shallows grinned in extreme satisfaction and put the pistol away, coming back to where the three teenagers stood. "Well, since ah can already use yer li'le friend 'ere to open the doors, why no' jus' tell me yer ages too?" he said to Kelsey and Julie, a smug expression on his face.  
Kelsey wasn't about to answer. She didn't want this scumbag to know her age, even if it didn't matter. He didn't need to know. If he thought that she was going to tell him anything, if he thought he was intimidating, he was even denser than she believed him to be.  
"Sixteen," Julie said quietly, as if it were a secret, after a few moments of silence. What other choice did she have? He was getting to the treasure anyway. He was getting what he wanted, whether she told him or not.  
"An' you?" He shifted his penetrating gaze to Kelsey and leaned in towards her.  
"I'm not telling you my age, you don't need to know it," she told him flatly, without much emotion.  
"An' wha' makes ye say tha'?" He raised his eyebrows curiously.  
She didn't respond.  
"Is it 'cause yer of age?"  
Kelsey narrowed her eyes at him, but still kept her mouth shut.  
"Ah, so tha's it. Well, then, yer blood won' work. Bu' theirs will. Still considered children, they are." He pulled Ariana and Julie away from their older friend, and then drew a silver dagger from his belt. It was so sharp it looked as if it could cut through metal. Julie gave a small gasp and Ariana's eyes widened. _This is it_, she thought. _This is how I'm going to die_.  
He took hold of Julie's arm and shoved one of her sleeves up, then did the same to Ariana. _What?_ she thought. _What is he doing?_ Now she was confused.  
Her unspoken question was answered, however, as he lowered the blade to Julie's arm and pressed it down into her skin. He drew it downwards, leaving a bloody gash that made Ariana wince. Julie couldn't see it, since her arm was tied behind her, but it was visible to anyone else. She could see tears welling in Julie's eyes and felt her blood beginning to boil again. He moved to her arm and she steeled herself, tightening all the muscles and waiting. She didn't have to wait long; the pain was sharp and it felt as if all the snakes in hell were biting her flesh. She didn't realize she had tears springing to her own eyes until her vision began to blur. She swiftly wiped them on her shoulder, not daring to let this man or his crew see her cry. She gritted her teeth and tried to think of something, anything else, to ignore the pain.  
So he wasn't going to kill them. That was either a good or bad thing, which, she didn't know yet. Good: They weren't dead. Bad: Shallows most likely intended to hand them over to his crew.  
Kelsey had instantly dashed towards Shallows the moment that he had cut them, but one of his crewmembers quickly wrapped an arm around her waist and held her back as she kicked with all the force of hell behind her to get away from him. "Let them go! _LET THEM GO_!" she shrieked furiously at the top of her lungs, but Shallows just ignored her.  
Deep red blood began to roll down their arms in thin rivulets, standing out against their peachy skin. Shallows held their wounded arms outstretched in front of the two enormous stone doors behind them, not bothering to untie them, so now that only added to the pain, since their arms were being stretched _backwards_. The blood dripped rapidly down onto the ground and seemed almost to sizzle when it touched the floor.  
Soon enough, after the thick fluid tapered off, the gigantic doors slowly began to open, rumbling so loudly they could feel the vibrations throughout their entire bodies. Ariana swore she could feel the ground almost shake.  
When the doors were fully open, everyone was momentarily blinded by the sparkling, shining, fantastic treasure that was piled high in front of their amazed eyes. There were golden treasure chests filled with riches, gold coins piled up to the ceiling, millions of multicolored, glinting jewels, and innumerous amounts of jewelry such as necklaces, rings, and crowns. The entire room was so massive that it could have fit the governor of Port Royal's house within it. The three girls could not believe what they were seeing. Kelsey had stopped trying to kick the pirate's legs in that was holding her, for she was too busy staring. Shallows' eyes were wide, his eyebrows raised. Even he had not expected this much.   
"Ah seen lo's o' treasure, bu' neva anythin' like this," he stated. After a few more seconds of mindless gawking, he suddenly shouted, "Well come on, mates, le's get our treasure!"   
His entire crew shouted in appreciation and raced into the colossal room behind him, and Kelsey was dropped to the ground and forgotten as the pirate holding her hurried as well. As Shallows ran, no one noticed the golden medallion fall from his pocket and land on the ground.   
Ariana, Kelsey, and Julie immediately ran over to Jack once they saw that Shallows and his men were busy loading themselves down with as much treasure as they could manage.   
"Are you okay?" Ariana asked him, concern filling her voice as she looked at him worriedly.   
"I'm fine, love. What about you?"   
She didn't answer right away; she was too busy enjoying the fact that he seemingly cared about her, about whether or not she was all right or hurt. She hadn't thought him capable of feelings such as that, which she now admitted to be a horrible opinion to have, but she had been wrong. This was one thing she was glad to be wrong about.   
"I'm fine, it just stings a little," she finally replied. That wasn't the whole truth; it hurt like hell, but she didn't want to admit it – she didn't want to worry him. "Do you have a bandage or something for me and Julie?"   
"I'm not sure, I'll have ta look on the ship," he told her. "Come on, men, get these ropes off us!" he shouted at his crew.   
They approached them, and four helped their captain and the teenagers get out of the ropes. Jack spread his arms. "Oh, that feels SO much betta!" Ariana, Kelsey, and Julie were stretching their arms and hands, grateful to be free of the tight confines.   
"Hey, look cap'n, wha's tha'?" one of Jack's men asked, pointing to the open doors, beyond which Shallows and his crew were still busy.   
Near the entrance there was something gold that no one could make out. Ariana hurried over and knelt down, picking it up. "It's the medallion," she informed everyone, holding it up.   
"Here, let me take that," Jack said, and she handed it to him. He observed it closely, turning it over in his hands. After about a minute of this, he put it into his pocket. "All right, men, we're going ta show them what we're made of, eh?"   
His crew responded with an enthusiastic roar and dashed into the room that held the magnificent treasure, swords raised.   
"Now, you rememba everything I taught you?" Jack asked Ariana.   
"Yeah." She nodded.   
"Good. Now is when it comes in handy."   
She felt a knot form in her stomach at the thought of actually battling those pirates. She wanted to, at least a part of her did. A part of her knew that she could fight with a sword, and that she should. Another part said that it was suicide to even try. She remembered something and put a hand on Jack's arm. He turned his attention to her.   
"Jack. . .what did Shallows say to you?"   
He seemed to stare off into her eyes for quite some time before he replied elusively, "Nothing you need to know." He then turned to her friends. "You two wait out here, try to hide yourselves. We'll be out soon. I just can't resist a good fight!" He grinned, and then spun and headed into the room with Ariana. The two watched them as they went, and then, remembering that they needed to hide, dashed behind a large boulder, peeking out to watch the action taking place.   
Ariana took a deep, steadying breath as she entered the room, where Shallow's men were already battling Jack's. A pirate immediately ran up to her and she blocked his sword as he lunged at her. She saw another come at Jack, and he was off fighting. She was left to duel with this man.   
He swung at her again and again, and she continued parrying and countering. It went like that – swing, parry, swing, counter, until she swung at him and be blocked, pushing her back, sending her stumbling. She quickly regained her balance and aimed for his legs. He jumped and swung at her – she backed up and swung back. She missed – he swung, she blocked. Then without warning she shoved the sword straight out at him, assuming he hadn't been ready for that, for he wasn't quick enough to block it, and the blade went right through his chest.   
She stood there for a few moments, taking in the sight before her. A dead man. She had killed him. Her blade was stuck inside him. A look of surprise was permanently plastered on his face. She was a murderer. But he had deserved it. . .he would have killed her. . .   
She realized that there was no time to dwell on the fact that she had just impaled someone with a sword, and she pulled it out of him, wincing. It was dripping with fresh blood that permeated the air. He fell to the ground, his eyes frozen open in shock. She didn't like the way he was staring at her. She hated it when people died with their eyes open; it was so disturbing. She shuddered. She needed to clean her sword; she couldn't stand the sight of his blood coating it. But she had nothing to clean it with.   
She searched the ground with her eyes, looking for something, anything. She looked at the dead pirate and spotted a rag tied to his belt. She knew she would have to untie it; would have to touch him. She didn't even want to go _near_ him. But she knew she had to. So she bent over and, quickly as she could manage, untied the rag and stood back up so fast that she almost fell backwards. She then walked swiftly away and wiped the sword as clean she could get it. She threw the now bloody rag back at the corpse and looked for Jack. There was no way she wanted to do that again. She enjoyed the sword fighting, but dead people weren't exactly her favorite thing to deal with.   
"'Ey, the treasure's reappearin'!" she heard a pirate from Shallows' crew shout to someone.   
So that was why they had needed blood from children of another world. . .the treasure was magical. It could replenish itself. No wonder. . .it all made sense now.   
She searched until she spotted him fighting with the pirate who had challenged him earlier. They were moving all around the room, and couldn't quite tell who was winning, but she guessed that Jack most likely was.   
Suddenly she witnessed him shove his sword through the other man's stomach and pull it back out just as quickly. The pirate crumpled to the ground and Jack moved on as if it was nothing, and it probably _was_ nothing to him. He took out a rag and cleaned his sword, then noticed her standing there and came over.   
Looking at the dead pirate, he said, "I see you won."   
"Yeah. Can we go?"   
He grinned, obviously amused. "I take it you don't fancy dead people much?"   
"No, I don't."   
She saw him quickly glance over her shoulder, but he did it so quickly that she was barely even sure that he had done it at all.   
"Well as far as I know there are no dead people at Port Royal," he said.   
"We're going to Port Royal?" she asked excitedly. "That's where Will and Elizabeth live!" She smiled. She was going to meet Will. She couldn't wait! But hold on. . .why were they going to Port Royal? Was it a visit for Jack? Or something else?   
"How do you know about – nevamind. I'm not even going ta ask. MEN!!!" He shouted as loud as he could to his crew so that he would be heard over all the clashing of swords and shouting of curses. His crew immediately stopped fighting and followed him swiftly from the cave. As they went, Kelsey and Julie appeared from behind the boulder and joined Ariana.   
"That was SO cool! You kicked ass!" Kelsey told her.   
Ariana couldn't help but let a grin creep onto her face. She hadn't known that she had had an audience while she had been fighting.   
They all walked down the beach quickly after Jack, who was leading them back to the ship. Once they reached the water, they all climbed into the rowboats that they had left in the sand and rowed out to the large structure. Once up on deck, Jack began giving orders to pull up the anchor and get ready to sail.   
"Jack, why are we going to Port Royal?" Ariana asked him curiously.   
"We're going to have our own ambush," he replied, grinning.  
  
Back on the island, in the cave, one of the men from Shallows' crew approached him. "Cap'n, ah got some news," he said.   
"Wha' is it?"   
"Ah know where Sparrow and the brats are goin'."   
Shallows let the crown he had been examining slip from his fingers and land with a crash in the chest below as he turned to look at the pirate. There was a glint of something in his eyes that the man couldn't quite figure out. "Ya do now?" he asked.   
"Aye. They're goin' ta Port Royal. I overheard Jack tellin' one o' the brats."   
Shallows grinned widely, immensely pleased. "Someone's in fer a surprise," he said.  
  
A/N: Another cliffhanger! Sort of. Not really, actually, since I'm gonna have the next chapter up today, but whatever. This is another longer chapter, so go me! 


	12. Flashbacks

I would LOVE to own Pirates of the Caribbean, but I don't. And I would most definitely love to own Jack Sparrow. . .but I don't own him either. . .damn. . .  
  
Chapter Twelve  
  
They had been sailing for two days, and now Ariana felt they should be nearing the port soon. She wasn't quite sure how far they were from the island, but she had a sense that it would not take more than two or three days to travel there from the cave. She could remember without doubt the conversation between her and Jack when they had returned to the Black Pearl.  
  
_Flashback_  
  
"So, why are we going to Port Royal again?" Ariana asked Jack, knowing that he was planning an ambush, but also being aware of the fact that that was the only knowledge she had, and she wanted more. It wasn't that she wasn't excited about meeting Will and Elizabeth; she undoubtedly was. But she wished to know exactly what was going on; what scheme Jack was plotting in that head of his. She hated being uncertain.  
"Because, love, like I told you, we're planning an ambush." He knew that she desired more than just that, but he decided to wait until she asked him.  
"Yeah, besides that." Her tone told him she craved to know; she wouldn't stop until she had all the facts.  
"Well, I'm thinking that you and your friends can get all dressed up to fit in, then go an' ask Will ta have the Navy on alert for a pirate ship by the name of The Fearless. They'll get their little ships with their little cannons and blast the bajeesus out of it, then capture Shallows and his crew." He tried not to grin at the notion of Ariana in a dress; a very pleasant thought he rather fancied, easily picturing it in his head.  
_Blast the bajeesus out of it_, Ariana repeated in her head. _Same thing he said in the movie_. She had a knack for noticing these types of things. She felt the corners of her mouth twitching, and she realized she was trying not to grin at the identical phrasing of the captain. Then she switched her thoughts. "Well how exactly are we going to get Will to trust us? I doubt he's going to listen to three teenagers who march into his house and tell him to order the Navy to blow up a ship." She waved her hand around in the air for emphasis.  
"Just tell him you're friends of Jack," he replied, raising his eyebrows. "Everyone loves _me_," he couldn't help but add with a playful grin.  
_That could work_, she thought. _But that means I have to wear a dress. I HATE dresses_. "Only one problem," she told him, then repeated aloud the three words she was speaking continually in her head. "I _hate_ dresses."  
He smirked. "Well that's just too bad, love, because unless you wear one, the plain won't work." He knew very well that the plan _would_ work, even if she didn't go into Port Royal at all, but he craved so greatly to see her in a dress that he had no care. Maybe he could convince her that the plan would not succeed without her.  
She signed and rolled her eyes, crossing her arms stubbornly. "I don't want to wear one." Her tone was so defiant that he raised his eyebrows in surprise for just a second before lowering them back to their normal position. Is this what her parents had to put up with?  
"You have to. Othawise it won't work."  
"How do you know?"  
It was his turn to sigh, but this was from aggravation. "Because – because I just do, all right? He could think of no plausible reason quick enough; he hoped he wasn't letting on the a_ctual_ grounds for why he wished for her to wear it. If he was, and she caught on, she would never get into one.  
She looked at him without replying for a few moments, then said sarcastically, "Because you just do. Well _that's _original." Her defensive side was showing again.  
"Are you going to wear a dress or not? It's the only way you'll fit in, an' therefore the only way the plan will work."  
Now when she eyed him, she looked suspicious. She leaned in towards him, and it was all he could do not to grab her right then and kiss her as he had just days ago. He smiled inwardly at the memory.  
"What's the _real_ reason you want me to wear a dress?" she asked, her eyes slightly narrowed. She was almost positive at this point that he only desired her in a dress for his own viewing pleasure. What other explanation could there be? He could come up with no credible reasons. If that was indeed the case, she wasn't entirely sure whether she wanted to wear the dress or not. _That would be so like a man_, she thought cynically. She was hoping that she was wrong.  
It was several moments before he answered, and she wasn't fully certain that she believed he wasn't thinking up an excuse to cover up his real motive.  
"The _real_ reason," he said finally, "is that you'd be safa in Port Royal if the pirates attack. If you don't go, and they attack while your friends are there, you'd be in danga. Lots more than if you were to be in Port Royal, at the governor's house no less, which is the safest, most guarded place there." _Good reason!_ he thought proudly, mentally patting himself on the back for coming up with it as quickly as he had. And, now that he thought about it, that was actually another, probably better, reason. He _did_ care about her and wanted her to be safe.  
"How do you know he'll be at the governor's house?" She wanted to use anything she could think of that would get her out of having to wear that dreadful thing. It wasn't just that she didn't prefer to be eye candy – it was more that she just didn't wish to wear one, period. She had been a tomboy up until just a short while ago and couldn't remember the last time she had worn one.  
"Because I've received word of his wedding that shall be happening in just some time, an' if I know him, he and Elizabeth are already living togetha."  
"Why do we have to get them captured by the Navy? Why can't we just battle them on the water?" Wouldn't it be easier that way?  
He gazed at her for a moment. His tone was serious when he spoke. "I'm not letting them get a chance to take you." He knew just what would occur if Shallows managed to get the girls back on his ship, particularly now having knowledge of how much Jack cared about Ariana. He would not let them near her.  
She hadn't expected that response. He sounded as if he truly cared for her. How could she say no to him if he did?  
"Fine." She finally gave in. "I'll wear a damn dress. What do you want me to say to Will?"  
_She really must enjoy swearing_, Jack thought playfully, trying hard to keep a grin from his face as he answered, "Tell him that you're friends of Jack's, an' that he said ta have the British Navy out an' ready for a pirate ship, The Fearless, that shall be coming within the next hour or so. Tell him that they must have their cannons an' all otha weapons at the ready and must capture the entire crew, an' the captain, an' they can have the choice whetha ta hang them or leave them ta rot in a cell." He received a satisfying image of Shallows hanging from a noose.  
She nodded in understanding as she tried to memorize all that he was telling her. Then she realized something. "How do you know they're following us?" she asked him curiously.  
He gave a smirk. "Rememba back in the cave, when I first told you we were going ta Port Royal? Well, there was a pirate from Shallow's crew behind you an' he was listening to me."  
So that explained why she had seen him glance over her shoulder. She had been wondering about that some since they had left. "Smart thinking, Jack," she told him, receiving a grin. "Is that it?"  
He nodded. "Pretty much."  
She walked away from him and into his quarters to tell her friends everything she had just been told.  
  
_End flashback_  
  
She remembered that. She could also remember what took place the night before. Not the first night they had been sailing after leaving the island, but last night. Nothing had happened on the first night. But last night. . .that was still fresh in her mind. It was all she could think about.  
  
_Flashback_  
  
Ariana, Kelsey, and Julie had chosen to eat dinner with Jack and the crew. The three of them had no idea why they had; the only reason they could come up with was because Jack was there. They would dine with him any night.  
Ariana wasn't feeling incredibly hungry; she ate a bit of fruit and that was it. She chose to head back to Jack's cabin and get the bed before her friends could do the coin toss.  
Jack noticed her departure and knew that this was his chance, his only chance. His only chance to do _something_. He didn't know exactly what it was he planned on doing, but it had to be s_omething_. He had enjoyed the kiss they had shared too much to just ignore it and let it go.  
So he excused himself and left, following her. Kelsey and Julie were not blind to what was happening, and made the choice to stay at the dinner table longer than they had originally intended, even if they didn't want to; after all, who would, with a disgusting group of men such as this? But they knew that Jack wished for some alone time with Ariana, and that was in all probability what she wanted as well. Though they were jealous, she was their friend, and they weren't going to let envy get in the way of that.  
  
Ariana flopped down onto the big bed and buried her face in her pillow, her mind becoming lost to thoughts of what it would be like to meet Will and Elizabeth. They were such kind, good people; she was sure she would like them. She just hoped that they liked her.  
She heard the door open and snapped her head up, looking around. It was Jack. She felt a surge of happiness and turned, sitting up. "Hi," she said. At first she couldn't think of much else to say, then found her voice. "What brings you here?"  
"You," he answered, a bit too quickly.  
She could feel heat rush up to her cheeks and she tried not to smile at his response. But what was wrong with smiling about it? She knew she had to be turning pink.  
He walked over and sat down next to her. God did she love being near him. . .  
"Really?" she managed to get out.  
"Yes really." He was gazing straight into her eyes, and she found it difficult to look away; because she didn't w_ant_ to look away. She just wished to get lost in those luxurious pools of brown forever.  
She took a deep, silent breath and wasn't sure of what to say except, "Kelsey and Julie are going to be coming soon."  
"No they're not." He seemed so sure that she believed him. "I've been thinking about that kiss."  
Her heart began hammering against her ribcage and her cheeks felt as if they'd been set aflame. "You have?"  
"Yes." He was still staring into her eyes as if he could see right through to the wall behind her; see right inside her. He didn't blink, not once.  
"So have I." As soon as the words had left her lips, she wanted to take them back. Who knew what kind of thoughts she had put into his head now.  
There was a few moments of silence, and then she slightly leaned in towards him. She stopped, uncertain. She didn't quite know why, though. . .she wanted to kiss him again, she knew that she did, and she knew that he wanted to kiss her, so why was she hesitating?  
He closed the distance between their mouths and her eyes closed as she once again felt as if she were floating on a cloud of pure contentment. It was the greatest feeling she had ever experiences, and she wished it never ending. She was no longer sitting on a bed inside a ship; she was in the sky. Nothing else mattered except her, him, and what was happening right then. She had been kissed plenty of times before, but never had it felt like this. Not once did she feel this electricity, this passion, this pleasure, not on such a grand scale. Everything around her faded and she was lost to her own world she seemed to have suddenly created; a world that contained only the two of them.  
Their lips were still locked as she lay down, and she could feel him on top of her. He ran a hand through her hair and his lips left hers, but her disappointment at this quickly faded as they moved to her neck. She still had her eyes shut, she was still in her world; in their world. She could feel his lips traveling from her neck down over her chest, her stomach, and then they reached the top of her pants. She opened her eyes and looked at him. He was looking back at her, questioning with his eyes, requesting permission. She could see how much he wanted this to happen – but she didn't. Not just yet. She wasn't ready; she couldn't count how many times she had had to say that in past relationships. She shook her head and he nodded, seeming to understand. She hadn't thought that he would, but she was obviously wrong.  
He moved back up to her face and once again pressed his lips to hers. She let her eyes close and was once more lost in him.   
He didn't leave until at least fifteen or twenty minutes later, with a bulge in his trousers that he was careful not to let her see. He hadn't gotten exactly what he wanted, but he had certainly gotten enough. _Another night, hopefully_, he thought. She stayed on the bed with her eyes closed, not willing to let him leave but knowing that they possessed only so much time alone.   
A few minutes later, Kelsey and Julie came bounding in, making her tell them everything that had happened, pressing her for details, and she re- lived it through her words.  
  
_End flashback_  
  
She smiled as she remembered that night; nothing serious had occurred, but what _had_ happened was sufficient for her. She was elated that he had chosen her, rather than Kelsey or Julie or some whore from Tortuga. She wasn't going to let him go. She would never let him go.  
She was standing at the side of the ship, gazing out at the ocean as she always did when she was deep in thought. She was brought back to reality by Jack coming and putting his arm around her. She looked up at him and smiled again. She loved him this close to her. . .  
"Hi," she said, the smile still lighting up her face.  
He smiled back. "Hi. Just wanted ta tell you that we're almost there. Time ta get dressed up."  
  
A/N: For those of you that were waiting for SOMETHING to happen between Ariana and Jack, there ya go. Not much, but something. Next chapter up soon! Reviews please! 


	13. Dresses

I don't own Pirates of the Caribbean, or Jack Sparrow. . .it's pissing me off. . .  
  
GoldenHorizon: Okay, in this story, he's not 40. I don't think he's 40 in the movie, either, but whatever. In this story he's 28.  
  
Chapter Thirteen  
  
"We have to wear _dresses_?" Kelsey asked shrilly, sounding shocked, as if she had never worn a dress in her life. (And she hadn't since her senior prom; the only time she ever dressed up was for formal occasions, and even then she tried to wear something other than a dress).  
"Yeah. Look, I don't want to either, _trust_ me, I _really_ don't want to, but we have to. We have to go up to where Will and Elizabeth live and our clothes aren't exactly _normal_ around here," Ariana told her. She knew it was going go be difficult to make Kelsey see the point and reason as to why she had to wear a dress of all things; she hated them as much as Ariana did, but she was far more stubborn. She wasn't willing to do it unless she truly _had_ to and something that was important to her was at stake, and Ariana didn't know if she could convince her or not. She was hoping she would be able to; she didn't want it to be just her and Julie, not only because of her own reasons, but also because then Kelsey would be in more danger on the ship if The Fearless attacked while they were at the governor's house.  
"I don't care! I'm not wearing a dress!" There was no way she was going to get into one of those; no way anyone could get her into one. She would stand here and argue all day if she had to. It really didn't matter to her as long as she didn't have to wear the thing. Ariana, even Jack, could get down on their hands and knees and beg and she still wouldn't She couldn't stand dresses. Besides, this town needed to liven up a bit; maybe wearing her normal clothes would help! The women didn't need to wear those damned constricting corsets and ugly dresses just to impress the men around them!  
"You have to! Okay? You _have to_! You have no choice! You think I want to wear one? No! But I have to!" Maybe if Kelsey knew that Ariana was willing to wear it, she might changer her mind. After all, Ariana loathed them as well, and it would take something of great importance to get her into one.  
"Why can't we just borrow some clothes from Jack?" If they wouldn't listen to her say "no" repeatedly, then she would just try some other way to get out of it. She would much rather wear pirate clothes – wear almost _any_ clothes – than wear a dress.  
"Because then we would look like pirates, and they would hang us the second they saw us. So unless you would like to die, get into the damn dress!" She was ready to smack the girl over the head if she didn't agree to it soon.  
"No! How do you know they'll hang us? We're girls, maybe they don't hang women or something!" Kelsey wasn't even entirely sure that was true, but she decided to say it anyway. After all, she had never seen any movies or shows or read any books where women were hung, and if she had, it hadn't been for being pirates.  
"Oh, trust me, they do! They don't give a shit if you're a girl or not, they'll friggin hang you if you're a pirate!" She hated arguing with Kelsey; both of them were never going to quit until they won, so it was like a never-ending battle that she detested fighting in.  
"Then I just won't go! Who says all three of us need to be there? You and Julie can go!"  
"No, because if you stay on the ship you'll be in more danger than if you come with us. If The Fearless attacks before we get back, then you'll most likely either be taken again or killed! No way! You're coming with us!"  
"I don't want to, dammit!" Why couldn't she just stay on the damned ship? She highly doubted that The Fearless would assail The Black Pearl while Ariana and Julie were gone. And it didn't take three people to deliver one message. Besides, on the ship, she'd have Jack to look at. . .  
"Too bad! Come on, Kelsey, please? I'm saying please! Come on!" She practically never said please to anyone, so on the rare occasion that she did, it showed that she wanted what she was after badly.  
Her friend rolled her eyes and put a hand on her hip. She knew that Julie would wear a dress – hell, she would wear a miniskirt and a tube top – but Ariana never would, ever. So this must have been serious for her to actually be willing to put one on. She gave a loud, exaggerated sigh and said, "Fine."  
"Really? Yay!" Ariana jumped up and down, smiling like a five-year- old who had just received a bucket of candy before rushing out of the cabin to get Jack.  
"Ya know, dresses aren't all that bad," Julie told Kelsey.  
"Yeah, for you maybe, but not for me! I _hate_ them!"  
"I don't."  
"Good for you. I do." She wasn't happy about this decision, and she was going to show it.  
Moments later Jack entered with Ariana at his side and walked to the wall behind his table.  
"Uh, Jack, there's nothing over there," Ariana told him.  
He turned to look at her. "Oh yes there is, love." Then he turned back, leaving her with a confused expression on her face. _Has he been drinking?_ she thought. _Probably_, she answered herself. _Some secret stash of rum on the ship_. She tried not to laugh at the thought of Jack acting as he had when he and Elizabeth had been stranded on the island.  
Kelsey and Julie had the same looks of perplexity until he opened the wall up. There was a door he had opened, but it matched the wall perfectly, making it look like magic to be opening it. Ariana couldn't help the small grin that crept onto her face at the sight of about four dresses hanging in the space there that she assumed was a closet.  
One was green and poofed out very much from the waist down, looking as if it were made of cotton, one was blue and slightly smaller, one was red, even smaller than that, and silky, and one was a light blue and roughly the same size as the deeper blue one. They all appeared similar to the dress that Elizabeth had been given from her father the day that Captain Jack Sparrow arrived in Port Royal. Ariana searched with her eyes for the corsets that went with them, but could find none.  
"And where did you get these, Jack?" she asked him, grinning with amusement.  
He smirked back. "Sometimes people can be forgetful as to where they leave their clothing."  
Julie slightly giggled at this, then became somewhat serious.  
"All right, let's go choose," Ariana said, walking over to the closet and taking out the blue dress.  
"I call red," Kelsey said, walking over to join Ariana and removing the red dress, the smallest and silkiest of the four. Of course she would wear that one, she was the skinniest person Ariana and Julie had ever met.  
"I want the green one," Julie said, pulling it out and looking it over.  
Ariana turned hers around and looked at the back. There was just a zipper to close it up.  
The three girls shooed him out of the room so that they could change.  
Once they had removed their clothing and put the dresses on, they zipped up the backs of one another's and then looked at each other to see how ridiculous they looked.  
Julie was by far the funniest, at least in Ariana and Kelsey's opinions. The way the dress poofed out all around at the bottom was just hilarious, the way it looked on her. Kelsey's dress didn't poof much; in fact, it barely did at all. It was the same with Ariana's dress. The two were glad that the dresses' necklines weren't too far down; otherwise they might've had second thought about wearing them.  
"God, and to think that they had to wear these every day with the damn corsets, I would've shot myself," Ariana said, looking down at herself.  
"Me too," Kelsey agreed, nodding.  
"I don't think I would've minded _too_ much. . ." Julie said. After all, it couldn't have been _that_ bad, could it? Sure, they had to wear corsets and dresses, but at least they looked better that way. They were just dresses. . .  
"Yeah, of course _you _wouldn't have," Ariana replied. "You're just plain weird."  
"So are you."  
"I know." She grinned, obviously taking it as some sort of compliment. She always did; people called her weird all the time. Mainly her friends, and they knew that it did nothing but make her happy. Better than being called normal.  
They started towards the door when Ariana stopped abruptly, remembering something. She looked down at her feet.  
"What are we going to do for shoes?" she asked.  
Her friends exchanged "I don't know" looks and then looked back at Ariana.  
Problem," she said, then headed back over to the closet. She didn't have to search; there were three pairs of showed right in front of her. She didn't wonder much about where the fourth pair was as she picked them up and brought them over to the other two girls, setting them down on the floor. "Solution." She picked up one pair and put them on, and Kelsey and Julie followed suite.  
"I wonder what other women's clothes he has on here," Julie said as Kelsey opened the door.  
"Don't want to know," Ariana replied.  
They made their way to the deck and they could see Jack leaning back casually against the side of the ship, looking immensely pleased. They noticed that after glancing at Kelsey and Julie, his eyes became focused on Ariana. She could feel her cheeks growing hot and she looked down at the deck, then out across the water, determined not to look at him while he was taking her in eagerly. She could see land in the distance, and she knew that it was Port Royal. She couldn't wait to meet Will and Elizabeth; she wished that she could ask them questions about their adventure, but she knew that if she did, it would more than likely cause trouble, which she didn't want. Unless, of course, Jack informed them that she, Kelsey, and Julie knew somehow. . .he could think of something, she knew he could. After all, he was Captain Jack Sparrow. He was known for thinking things up off the top of his head to make others believe him. That was one of the things that made him brilliant, at least in her opinion.  
They came over to him and she could see that his eyes were still traveling up and down her body with great interest. As soon as they got close enough, however, he raised his eyes to her face.  
"We're almost there," he told them, stealing glances down at her dress as he spoke. "We're going to drop anchor a ways from the town, somewhere where we won't be seen. That way nobody blows our heads off when they see the ship. And, also so Shallows won't see the ship, of course."  
"And when do you think he'll be getting here?" Ariana asked, attempting to keep her eyes away from his shirt, which was being blown by the wind and revealing nearly half of his tanned chest. She instead tried to focus her gaze on his eyes, which she also enjoyed very much.  
She suspected that he noticed her looking, because she thought she detected a hint of a grin playing on his face as he replied, "Oh, later on, either while you're up at the govana's house or afta."  
"Okay." She nodded, as did her friends.  
"By the way, I must say that you look positively stunning in that dress." He again roamed her body with his eyes, though not as hungrily this time, since they were right there in front of him and could clearly see what he was doing. "You look lovely as well." He turned to Kelsey and Julie.  
They all said thank you, and Ariana couldn't keep the smile off her face. _You don't look too bad yourself_ had been right on the tip of her tongue, but she had stopped herself from saying it. She didn't know the reaction she would get from him, or what thoughts it might plant in his head.  
"So, just so I'm clear on everything here, we go up to the governor's house. We ask for Will. Then we tell him to order the British Navy to be ready for a pirate ship called The Fearless that'll be coming within the hour," Kelsey said to Jack.  
"Yes, that's about it."  
Something that Ariana hadn't thought of before suddenly struck her. "What if he doesn't believe that we're friends of yours?" That could be a serious problem if they didn't have any plans in case that happened. If he didn't believe them, they would have no luck capturing Shallows and his crew. The British Navy wouldn't know about it in advance and therefore wouldn't be prepared. Numerous amounts of horrible scenarios were suddenly swirling around in Ariana's head as she waited for Jack to reply.  
He said nothing for a few moments; he hadn't thought of that. His brow furrowed. What if Will _didn't_ believe them? Jack couldn't just march in there and tell him, unless he wanted to be caught and hung. But he _could_ have the three girls tell Will about the adventure. . .  
"All right, here's what you do in case that should happen. You just tell him everything that happened – Barbossa an' his cursed crew, tell him all about that. If you're really from another wo'ld like you say you are, you'll be able to tell him everything that happened, am I right?"  
"Yeah," Ariana responded. "Trust me, we know _everything_ that happened."  
"Good." He looked away from them to see that they had reached the spot to drop anchor. He shouted the order, and a few crewmembers moved to do so, the anchor making a large splash as it hit the water below.  
Ariana had looked around when he had called the command, and just now realized that everyone that was on deck – it wasn't the whole crew, but it was a good amount – had been staring at the three of them. She didn't know it, but behind her, when she had turned, Jack had looked at all of them and pointed to her, then him, with a deadly serious look in his eyes, letting them know that she was his. Kelsey and Julie had not seen him since they had spun as well. When they saw the grins they had quickly whipped back with expressions of disgust, along with Ariana.  
"We're here," Jack announced, and he strode over to one of the rowboats. "Hop in."  
The three girls all climbed in and Jack gave them instructions. "Just go around there, you'll come out on the beach. Row up to it, pull the boat up on the sand so it doesn't float away, then go up to the town. Act as lady-like as you can; stand straight when you walk, maybe even have your hands clasped in front of you. And when you sit down, which you most likely will to talk to Will, put both your hands on your lap, one on top of the otha. Savvy?"  
"Yeah, we know, we've only seen the movie like a hundred time, probably more," Ariana blurted out without thinking. _Dammit, I am SUCH an idiot_, she thought. _Now he's going to want to know what a movie is, and I don't have time to explain it to him,_ _it's not like I could anyway,_ _he'd never understand. . .  
_ But to her relief his reaction wasn't what she had expected. He gave them a very strange look, as if they had sprouted extra heads, but he said nothing. She was glad.  
They were lowered down into the water and began rowing their way around to the beach of Port Royal.


	14. A Little Conversation

Like always, wishing I owned Pirates of the Caribbean. . .wishing I owned Jack Sparrow. . .  
  
Chapter Fourteen  
  
Clambering out of the rowboat, they did as Jack had told him, pulling it up farther onto the sand so that it would not get swept out to sea by the water. They then turned to look at Port Royal.  
They saw a hill. They were at the bottom, the very bottom, right at the edge of the water, where the hill sloped further down under. They would have to ascend it to see the town.  
"Looks like we hafta climb," Kelsey said, looking up at it.  
"We're lucky, too, 'cause if that hill wasn't there, people could've seen us and they'd no doubt want to know why we arrived in a rowboat," Ariana replied.  
"True," Kelsey agreed.  
The three then began walking up the hill, digging their feet into the sand and dirt as it became steeper. When they reached the top a minute or two later, they were right under the sun, appearing as if they were godsends with it streaming down over them the way it was. They looked out across Port Royal.  
"Well there's the governor's house." She pointed to it. "Not hard to miss." It was at the top of an enormous hill, if that's what you even wanted to call the thing, since it was so much larger than an average one, overlooking the entire town. "I wish I lived in a place like that, don't you?"  
"Oh yeah," Kelsey replied, nodding.  
"Yep," Julie responded.  
"I hope nobody asks who we are," Ariana said. "What would we tell them?"  
There was silence for several seconds, which was soon broken by Kelsey answering, "No idea," and shrugging.  
"Well we have to think of something, in case anyone asks."  
"Why don't we tell them that we have a ship that we came on?" Julie suggested.  
"No way," Ariana quickly told her. "That'd only lead to more questions." People would want to know what kind of ship, who the captain was, where it was from, why they were there. . .just more complications.  
"Well I can't think of anything," Kelsey said. "Can't we just go already? Who cares? If anyone asks, we'll just tell them we're not from around here and we have something important to go do, and then we walk away. Simple as that. They don't _have_ to know every detail. And I don't want to stay in this dress any longer than I have to."  
Ariana rolled her eyes and sighed. She knew they would have to say that if anyone did indeed ask; after all, she couldn't come up with anything else, and neither could Julie, so what other choice did they have? "Come on, let's go," she said, heading down the hill that seemed smaller on this side, the land at the bottom coming up to meet it sooner. The other two followed.  
They proceeded into the town, feeling extremely awkward. This was not their time period, after all. It was certainly much different. They felt completely out of place even though they were dressed to fit in. They felt as if everyone were staring at them, when in reality not many were. Some glanced; others watched as they passed, wondering who they were. But no one said a word to them, and they were grateful, preferring not to try and explain anything.  
They attempted to walk like the other women around them; as straight as they could. Julie had her hands together in front of her, but Ariana and Kelsey didn't bother. They didn't believe it would make much of a difference whether their hands were in front of them or at their sides. Surely no one would stop and question them just because of that?  
It seemed like forever before they finally reached the governor's vast mansion. There was an iron gate surrounding it with guards outside. The men stopped them as they walked up and one said in a hard tone, "State your business."  
"We've come to speak with Mr. Turner," Ariana replied, trying her best to copy Elizabeth's accent.  
"What about?"  
"We have to deliver an important message." She prayed that he would not question her any further.  
He eyed the three of them for several seconds, as did the other guard, before responding, "Very well." Then he stepped aside.  
Ariana pushed open the gate, which was rather difficult to accomplish, since it was made of iron and so large. Once they walked through, she turned to her friends and said in a low voice, "Remember to speak with accents. Just like Elizabeth's, okay? Or Will's. Doesn't matter. Just don't forget the accent."  
They both nodded as they headed towards the front doors. When they reached them Ariana used the knocker and stepped back, waiting.  
A few seconds later one of the doors opened, revealing the butler.  
"We've come to speak with Mr. Turner," she informed him, repeating what she had said to the guard, still using the phony accent.  
He didn't reply, only stepped to the side to let them in. They moved past him and took in the house.  
"Please seat yourselves in the next room. Mr. Turner will be down shortly," the butler told them, closing the door and walking up the stairs.  
They complied, departing into what they assumed was the living room, sitting down on the rather large, comfortable chairs that were there.  
"Remember to use the accents," Ariana reminded them again. She needed to be absolutely certain that they wouldn't forget. Everyone in this town had an accent, and she didn't know if speaking without out would have any affect on Will's opinion of them, which affected his decision.  
"Yeah, we know," Kelsey replied. "You just told us outside." She raised her eyebrows.  
"I just want to make sure!"  
A few minutes later, Will strolled into the room and sat down on one of the chairs that was not occupied. "What is your message?" he asked them.  
"We've come to tell you that you must orda the British Navy to be on the lookout for a pirate ship," Ariana told him.  
"A pirate ship? What pirate ship?" If these girls had come to tell him to order the Black Pearl destroyed, he would not do it. There was not a chance in hell he would even consider doing anything of the sort. Jack loved that ship more than anything else in the world, and he would be aboard when they destroyed it, and he wouldn't let Jack be killed.  
"It's called The Fearless. The pirates aboard it are not ones that should be sailing the Caribbean, let's just say."  
"The Fearless?" He had never heard of it before. How did he know that they were not lying to him? Maybe the pirates on the ship were not as Barbossa and his crew had been.  
"Yes."  
"It's brown with white sails, and its name is on the stern, if that helps any," Kelsey told him. She did an impressive job with the accent; Ariana was grateful.  
"Yes, we've seen it," Julie added. Her accent didn't sound exactly convincing. Will, however, did not notice, and if he had, he did not comment.  
"How do I know you're telling the truth? How do I know you don't want me to order the Navy to destroy a ship that's a rival to you, or just for your revenge against someone?" He wasn't ready to believe them so easily. Did they think him a fool?  
"Because we're friends of Jack," Ariana explained.  
He raised his eyebrows in surprise. How could three young women such as these be friends with Jack? He _was_ a pirate, after all, and Will didn't think that women such as these would be associating with pirates at all, particularly befriending them. It could be a lie; it probably was. . .but how could he be positive? "How do you know Jack?" he asked them curiously, his eyes narrowed.  
They were at a loss for words for several seconds, caught off-guard. They weren't sure how to go about answering that; they hadn't considered he would ask about Jack.  
"We met him a while ago, sailing on the Caribbean," Julie informed him, and Ariana wasn't entirely assured that was the right answer.  
"You met him at sea?" Will said.  
Ariana thought up a story as quickly as she could, not wanting Julie to say anymore. Her friend had never been very skilled at lying or creating things off the top of her head, and she didn't wish for her to get them in trouble by saying the wrong thing. "Well you see," she started, "we were sailing on our way to anotha town and we got shipwrecked. Our parents drowned, and we thought that we would soon perish as well, but then Jack came along on the Black Pearl and rescued us." _Good story_, she thought to herself proudly. _I amaze myself sometimes. . .  
_ Will eyed them for a short time, wondering if this was the truth or not. He debated with himself. "Jack saved the three of you afta your boat sunk?"  
"Yes," Ariana replied, praying that he did not ask how the boat had sunk.  
"I see. And he didn't. . .try anything after he saved you?"  
All three instantly understood what he meant.  
"No, he didn't," Kelsey was quick to reply. "He suggested things to us many times, but once he really got to know us betta, he stopped."  
"What about his crew? I doubt they'd pass up the opportunity."  
"He told them to stay away from us," Ariana said.  
Will still wasn't confident that they were telling the truth. They could still be lying. After all, they hadn't shown him any real proof that they were indeed friends with the man. "Why am I supposed to believe you?" he asked them.  
"Because if you don't then The Fearless is going to come and blow this entire town apa't, just like the Black Pearl almost did," Ariana answered without thinking. Once the words had left her mouth, she instantly realized her mistake and mentally kicked herself.  
Will's brow furrowed and he asked, "How do you know about that?"  
She concocted another lie in her head after a few moments of uncomfortable silence. "Because we know all about your adventure." She didn't want to go on with the lie unless she had to.  
"How?"  
She had to. "Like I said, we're friends of Jack. He told us all about it."  
"Yes, he told us everything." Kelsey went along with it.  
"Well, if I'm really to believe you, then tell me everything that happened."  
"All right. Well, first, Jack came here. Then he rescued Elizabeth when she almost drowned. Then he was caught, but escaped and had a swordfight with you, but then was captured again and put into jail. The Black Pearl came and began blowing things up all ova the place, and two pirates took Elizabeth on board. The next morning you freed Jack from his cell and stole, or 'commandeered,' the HMS Dauntless, and when Norrington and his men came afta you on the HMS Intacepta, you and Jack swung onto that ship and sailed away on it. Clever, if I do say so myself. You gatha'ed a crew in Tortuga, then followed the Black Pearl to the Isla de Muerta. They cut Elizabeth's hand and spilled her blood, but it didn't work. You knocked Jack out with an oar and took Elizabeth onto the Intacepta, where Jack's crew from Tortuga was. Shall I go on?" Ariana raised her eyebrows.  
He gave her a look. "No." A brief pause. "I'll have Governor Swann tell the Navy to be on the lookout." He began to rise.  
"You must tell him to have them with cannons at the ready, so that they may blow the ship up, forcing Captain Shallows and his crew to abandon it. That way, the Navy can take them and put them in jail. You must do it now. The ship will be coming within the hour."  
"All right, I shall. And if Jack is here, tell him I say hello." He stood.  
"I shall."  
"Will you be leaving now?"  
"Yes, we will." She had been about to say "We must get back to the ship," but she had caught herself just in time. She did not want Will to have knowledge of Jack's presence on the other side of the island, in case he wished to go and say hello in person and in all probability get himself, Jack, or both of them in serious trouble, not to mention the three of them as well, since they would be seen, taken, and questioned.  
"All right. Good day."  
She gave a nod and got to her feet, as did her friends. They walked to the door and slipped out.  
They headed back to the beach, glad that no one paid them much attention. If anyone had, they would have surely wished to know why they were going there. Dressed as they were, they wouldn't be expected to.  
Upon their return to the Black Pearl, they were hauled up with ropes and pulleys which were thrown down to them, and once on board, Jack asked, "So did you tell him?"  
"Yeah," Ariana replied, and right after the word was said, she, Kelsey, and Julie shut themselves in his quarters to change back into their clothing. She and Kelsey practically ran to the cabin.  
When they were dressed normally once again, they came back out on deck. Jack took one look at him and tried to hide his disappointment; he had enjoyed Ariana in the dress. _Oh well_, he thought. _I saw her in it for a little while, at least_. He was still eyeing her the same as before, however; her shirt was rather tight and he got pleasure from it.  
Not twenty minutes later, the lookout in the crow's nest called down, "Cap'n! Ah see a ship! Ah think it's The Fearless!"  
Jack raced to his quarters and was back in a flash with his telescope in his hand. He raised it to his eye, directing it towards the sea, and said, "I think that's it."  
"What do we do? Do we move? Do we stay here? What do we do?" Ariana sounded a tad frantic; she tended to get overworked rather easily. She hadn't meant to sound that way, but she was scared of being taken onto that ship again, that awful, awful ship. . .Kelsey had informed her of what had happened to her when she and Julie had been aboard, and she didn't want that to happen to herself, or anything _more_. She just wanted to see the damn thing blown to smithereens. What had happened to Kelsey was just another motive for her to kill that son of a bitch captain and his crew.  
"We stay here, love. No need to fret. They won't be able ta see us ova here."  
"Oh good." She allowed herself to relax. She shifted her gaze from the ocean to him, a much better view in her opinion. He pulled the telescope away from his eye and noticed. He grinned at her, and she returned the gesture.  
  
Meanwhile, The Fearless was sailing closer and closer to Port Royal, looking for only one thing; The Black Pearl.  
  
A/N: One of my longer chapters. Did I do a good job with the conversation between Will and them? I hope I did. Please review! 


	15. VictoryApparently

Still find myself not owning Pirates of the Caribbean. . .not owning Jack Sparrow. . .IT'S NOT FAIR!!!  
  
Chapter Fifteen  
  
Captain Shallows searched all over the island with his eyes for the Black Pearl, determined to take back those fine little pieces of cargo and blow it into a million pieces. The doors to the treasure were now open, and he could go back any time he wanted to take more; at the moment all of his cargo space in his ship was filled with riches. And once he used it all, he would go back, and he could keep doing that forever; the treasure never ran out. He could use a form of entertainment on the ship for when he and his crew grew bored, and those forms were on the Black Pearl, along with one of his enemies, who would be killed as soon as Captain Shallows found him. He and his entire crew would be taken care of. He noticed that it seemed since the three girls never tried to run from Jack, they obviously wanted to be _with_ him, that he had not taken advantage of his situation. _Wha' an idiot_, Shallows thought. _T'ree fine lasses that wanna stay wit' 'im_ _an' he doesn' do nothin' wit' 'em._ _Tha's why I deserve ta 'ave 'em,_ _at least I'll use 'em fer somethin'_. He couldn't wait to find that ship.  
He was so absorbed in his thoughts that he did not notice the cannons hidden on the island of Port Royal, and he did not hear the lookout shout down to him that he thought he saw something. He was too busy imagining what he would do once he found the Black Pearl, wherever the damned thing was. He was sent reeling back to reality, however, by the sharp, piercing sound of a cannon being fired, and an explosion that he felt very close to him. He snapped his head to the right and caught sight of fire and thick black smoke coming from the side of the ship and his men running around preparing their weapons for battle. He looked back at the island and saw that it was much closer than it had been before. How long had he not been paying attention?  
Another cannon blast, another explosion, this time to his left. He could now smell the smoke.  
"Get the cannons ready!" he barked at his crew, even though he knew that's what they were already doing. This couldn't be happening, not now. . .not when he was so close. . .he knew the Black Pearl was here; he could sense it. The strongest feeling he had ever felt told him it was here, just hidden somewhere, tucked away in a spot he wasn't supposed to find. He had to locate it; destroy it and claim what was his.  
He forgot all about what was happening around him; forgot all about the cannons firing at the ship; forgot about the shouts from his crew; forgot about the fire and smoke engulfing the ship, almost blinding him, choking him. All he could focus on was uncovering the Black Pearl from wherever it was hiding; he had to. He cared about nothing else.  
He made his way to the rowboats and climbed into one, pulling himself up and over the side of the ship, ignoring his crew's hollers. He then took hold of the oars and began to row towards the side of the island, intending to go around. The Black Pearl was there, just beyond his range of vision; he could feel it.  
No one on the island noticed him; at least no one _seemed_ to notice him. He couldn't tell, and he didn't care. All he cared about was finding the ship.  
He kept going, the sounds of shouting and yelling and cannon blasts seeming to fade from his mind as he finally got around the side of the island and saw what he had been searching for.  
There it was. The Black Pearl. He had known it was here. The plan formed in his head. He'd take the girls in the rowboat, first. . .then he'd row back to his ship and blow this one sky high, just keep firing at it until there was nothing but little black pieces. He would win.  
He glided across the water as quietly as he could, stopping his small boat at the side of the massive ship. He made no noise whatsoever, not wishing to alert anyone to his presence and ruin his entire plan.  
Up on deck, Ariana, Kelsey, Julie, and Jack were all standing at the side of the ship opposite of the side Shallows was near; they didn't have a clue that he was even there.  
Ariana remembered something at that moment and said, "Oh, Jack, by the way, Will says hello."  
"He does, does he? Well I hope he's doing fine, hope the Commodore hasn't made any secret plans to hang him yet." He gave a small grin of amusement as he said this, remembering how the Commodore had wanted to marry Elizabeth but had lost her to Will. _She made the right choice, in my opinion_, he thought.  
"Sounds like Will listened," Kelsey announced. "I hear cannons."  
"So do I," Ariana agreed. "The Fearless is getting its ass kicked." She grinned. "Hope Shallows is dead already."  
"No' quite, lass," said a familiar but unpleasant voice from behind them. They all spun around to see Captain Shallows standing there poised with determination, his pistol pointed at Jack, looking very smug. Ariana and Kelsey both wanted to wipe the smirk off his ugly face with their fists.  
Ariana could feel her stomach knotting in fear even as she plastered a defiant look on her face, a plain show of bravado, which seemed extremely hard to accomplish at the moment. She felt icy cold, as if a wave of seawater had just come up on deck and splashed over her.  
_Does he really think that gun can scare us?_ Kelsey thought. _He won't use it; I know he won't. He's too chicken._ _He wouldn't have rowed all the way out here to shoot us. . .but maybe he would've to shoot Jack._ Fear instantly gripped her like a huge iron fist at the thought of Jack being shot and killed by this bastard who was a pitiful excuse for a man.  
Prayers just kept repeating over and over in Julie's mind, like a broken record. _Please God don't let him hurt us, please. . . _She had no idea as to what else to do but stand there frozen in fright. There was really nothing she could do, was there?  
"Well ya sure _look_ dead," Jack said to Shallows, and the three girls couldn't help the smiles that broke out across their faces. Ariana forced herself not to laugh, which was difficult. _It's true_, she thought. _He's definitely ugly enough to be considered dead._ _Dammit, I wish I had a gun_, she thought at seeing the pistol in Shallows' hand and being reminded of the danger of the situation she was in. Or rather, the danger that Jack was in; he was the target.  
A look of rage came across Shallows' face and flashed dangerously in his eyes. The sound of him cocking the gun caused the knots in Ariana's stomach to grow and become even more painful, and she felt as if she were encased in a block of ice. _Oh God no don't shoot_, she pleaded in her head. _Please don't shoot_. She didn't know what she would do if he killed Jack, but she did know that he would pay. Her hand gripped the handle of the sword that Jack had given her, which was now sheathed and attached to a strap that was slung around her over her shoulder, also given to her by him. She imagined taking it out right then and stabbing Shallows right in the chest. She kept herself from doing so, however, knowing that if she tried, either she or Jack would get shot. Of course, she would much rather have it be her than him.  
"Don't shoot him!" she yelled loudly before she could stop herself. She hadn't meant to say it aloud, and when Shallows switched his gaze to her she instantly regretted it.  
"An' why no'?" he asked, his eyebrows raised questionably.  
She didn't reply. She could see some of Jack's crewmembers starting towards Shallows from behind, their swords unsheathed. _Yes! Please get him, come on. . ._ She prayed he wouldn't notice them.  
But her prayers were useless as he spun suddenly, his pistol now aimed at them. "Don' be tryin' nothin'!" he told them, and they froze. "Pu' yer swords away!" They reluctantly complied, fixing Shallows with looks so full of contempt that his heart would stop if looks could kill. But they seemed to have no affect on him. He turned back to Jack and the teenagers. Jack now had his own pistol out, pointing it at the other captain. "Now wha's the use o' this, Jack? We both go' our pistols out and aimed a' each other, an' neither of us is gonna put 'em away."  
"Well maybe one of us could. It's just not going ta be me, mate," Jack replied. Ariana admired how he always managed to remain calm and collected, even witty at times, even in predicaments such as this.  
"Is tha' a fact, now?" Shallows was thinking. Jack had to have a weakness; everyone had a weakness. . .it was just a matter of finding it. Maybe it was one of the girls. That one that had been with him when he entered the cave; maybe it was her.  
Before anyone knew what was happening, Shallows was dashing across the deck towards the girls. Jack shot at him without even thinking. He wasn't about to let him hurt Ariana. There wasn't a chance in hell he would allow that to happen. He was surprised when the other man swiftly ducked and the bullet missed him, but he was not amazed.  
Shallows shot out his free hand and seized Ariana, pulling her to him and spinning her around so that her back was against him, his free arm now wrapped around her. His pistol was pointed right at her temple. She could feel the cool metal pressing against her skin, and the fear coursed through her veins, almost as if in place of her blood. The knots in her stomach were now so painful that she winced, but only for a moment, not wishing to satisfy him in any way by showing she was afraid or in pain. This wasn't happening. . .couldn't be happening. . .she did _not_ have a madman holding a gun to her head. . .only in nightmares. . .it couldn't be real. But this wasn't reality; not her reality. Anything could happen here. . .her life could be in danger here. . .she could die here. And no one in her world would ever know.  
"Now who's it gonna be? Cer'ainly no' me," Shallows said to Jack. Ariana could feel his breath on her ear, his face was so close to her head.  
_Dammit_, Jack thought angrily. _No, no, no. . .I won't let him hurt her. . .no. . .if he kills her then I'll kill him. . .I'll murder him with my bare hands. . .I'll strangle him to death, and then hang him from the crow' nest. . ._ He had to do something, anything. "Well, mate, if ya let her go, I'll put me gun away, savvy?" Maybe Shallows was stupid enough to believe him. . .he hoped so. . .  
But the other captain just laughed. "Ye really t'ink ah'm tha' thick, Jack? Well, jus' ta let ye know, ah aint. An' ah aint letting 'er go, either. She's mine. An' so are them two." He waved the gun in Kelsey and Julie's direction before returning it to Ariana's head. Kelsey wanted to scream at him, and no doubt every swear in the English language was going through her head.  
"An' what makes them yours, exactly?"   
"Ah brough' 'em 'ere, tha' makes 'em mine."  
"Ah, but are you so sure about that?" Maybe he could confuse him.  
"Wha' do ye mean?"  
"Well, what I mean is, are you sure that they're _yours_? Did _you_ actually bring them here, or did, say, a magical object or something of the sort bring them here?" He wasn't going to specify exactly what, because if he did, that would only let Shallows know that Jack knew how he had brought the girls here, and he didn't know if it was such a good thing that he knew.  
The man eyed him for a few seconds before replying, "Wha's it matta ta you?" He sounded suspicious.  
"Well I'm just saying, mate, that if you _found_ a magical something and used it ta bring them here, then it really isn't _you_ who brought them here, is it? It's the magical. . .whateva you found."  
Shallows looked at him again for some time before arguing, "But _ah'm_ still the one who used the magical medallion ta bring 'em 'ere. Wit'out me, they wouldn'ta been brought 'ere at all." He didn't even realize that he had used "medallion" in the sentence.  
"Yes, _but_, the medallion is still what really brought them here." Shallows didn't notice that Jack had used the word, either.  
Shallows shook his head. "Wha' are ye tryin' ta say?" This man was starting to irritate him.  
"Just that they don't really belong to you."  
"An' who _do_ they belong to? You?" He sounded sarcastic.  
"I bet they'd rather belong ta me than you, mate. No offense or anything." He added the last part only because Shallows had pressed the barrel of the pistol deeper into Ariana's temple at his comment.  
"Ye don' wan' ta be sayin' t'ings like tha', Jack, no' when ah got yet lass 'ere." If it was at all possible, he moved his face even closer to Ariana, near her neck.  
"How do you know she's _my_ lass?" He didn't want to let on that he had feelings for Ariana; that would only lead him to take her away or hurt her, or both. Or. . .any other possibilities Jack didn't even want to think about.  
"Oh, well, tha's easy. She's the one who's been wit' ye this 'ole time. She was wit' ye when ye took 'er onto yer ship, then she was wit' ye when ah took 'er li'le friends, then she was wit' ye when ye sailed 'ere. Though ah still consider 'er to be _mine_."  
"She's not yours." His voice was dead serious now, and the look in his eyes could've turned a man to stone.  
"So yer sayin' she _is_ yer lass then," Shallows said, just as Jack's men lunged at him, knocking him to the ground, followed by the others. Jack was grateful that Shallows' gun hadn't gone off when the men had tackled him, otherwise Ariana would be dead. He didn't put his pistol away; he wasn't willing to take any chances, not until he was certain that the wretched, vile man couldn't get anywhere near her.  
His crew had Shallows on the ground, and one man was pulling Ariana away from him. He picked her up and brought her to him. She wrapped her arms around Jack without a thought, thankful that both of them were alive. He was caught off-guard by this, but then hugged her back. She relished feeling his arms around her; she felt so safe, as if nothing in the world could get to her. She didn't want to let go, ever. She just wanted to stay, forever, in his embrace.  
Several moments later, they reluctantly pulled apart, neither one of them wanting to. Jack's pistol had dropped to the deck when he had hugged her. He had forgotten everything around him. Now he picked it up as he saw that his crew had a hold of Shallows.  
"Wha' do ye wanna do wit' 'im, cap'n?" one of them asked.  
He looked at the other captain and said, staring into his eyes, "Like I said, mate, she's not yours." He then raised his pistol and aimed it at the man's chest. He pulled the trigger; something he had been yearning to do for some time now. _You'll never lay a hand on her again_, he thought. Ariana, who had her arm around his waist, gave a small jump. She had never been near a gun when it was being fired, and she was not used to it.  
Jack put away his gun and told the crew, "Good job, men! I'll be right back, I've just got to go see if the ship is sunk yet." He strode over to one of the rowboats with Ariana.  
"You guys okay?" she turned and asked her friends.  
"Yeah, we're fine," Kelsey replied. "Are _you_ okay?"  
"Yeah, pretty much." The truth was, she was pretty shaken up. She looked back at Shallows, lying face down on the deck, the boards darkened by his blood. At least that was finally over. . .  
She grimaced at the sight and Jack noticed. "Take the body and get rid of it!" he called to his men, who immediately complied. Then he turned to Kelsey and Julie. "We'll be back in a few minutes, stay right here." He then got into the rowboat with Ariana and lowered them into the water, beginning to row.  
There were a few stretched moments of silence, besides the water lapping up against the sides of the small boat. Then Ariana asked, "Would you have risked your life for me?" She was amazed that she was in fact asking him that question, of all questions. But she wanted – _needed_ – to know.  
He gazed at her for several seconds before nodding. "Yes." He would die for her any day of his life. He was now realizing this, and he knew it meant something.  
She felt overjoyed. That one word caused so much happiness to fill up inside her that she thought she might burst. "Really?"  
He grinned. "Yes, really."  
She knew what she wanted to say, but for some reason she felt anxious, just a bit. She had the words formed in her head, on the tip of her tongue. _Just say it_, she told herself. "I would've risked my life for you too."  
His grin widened – now it was closer to a smile. She loved him, he knew it. It was obvious. But he knew she wouldn't say it unless she felt comfortable saying it, and knew the feeling was mutual. But was it? He knew he felt something for her, something strong, so very strong that seemed to tug at his very being. Was it love? He wasn't quite sure, but he knew he liked it.  
They reached the point where they could see around to the other side of the island, and all that was left of The Fearless now was the mast that was slowly sinking into the water, along with the rest of the ship that was already destroyed and under. Jack grinned in satisfaction. "Well it looks like we won."  
"We did? Yes! Are all the pirates from The Fearless dead? Are they captured?"  
"I don't know, I can't see far enough to tell if they've been taken onto the island or not."  
"But they haven't like, gotten into rowboats and sailed away or anything, right?"  
"It doesn't look like it."  
She was instantly filled with relief. "Good."  
He turned back to her and gazed straight into her eyes. She found herself becoming lost in his chocolate brown pools again, and she realized she was leaning forward into him. Their lips pressed together as her eyes slid closed and so did his, and she wrapped her arms around him. He put his hands on her sides and deepened the kiss. She forgot about everything around her; the island, the ship, the crew and Kelsey and Julie waiting; everything. She forgot she was in a movie. In her mind, this was real life; this was her reality. This was where she belonged. In a life with adventure; in a life with him.  
He pulled away several seconds later and said, "We should probably wait until we're somewhere more private, where nobody might be using a telescope." Another grin.  
She grinned back at the realization. "Yeah, you're probably right." With that, they rowed back to the Black Pearl.  
  
A/N: Hope ya liked it! But it doesn't end here, oh no! Lots more happens, just wait and see! I had the whole storyline already done, but then I decided on a different ending and now I've reached the point where I'm pretty much making each event up as I go along! Please review!


	16. Breakdown And Mistakes

Still don't own Pirates of the Caribbean! Still don't own Jack Sparrow! Dammit!  
  
Chapter Sixteen  
  
"Why'd it take you so long to get back?" Kelsey asked Ariana and Jack, something between a grin and a smirk on her face.  
"What do you mean?" Ariana asked, playing dumb.  
"You know what I mean." Her tone was amused.  
It was true. Ariana _did_ know what she meant, but she wouldn't let on. She was a good liar; at least _she_ thought so. But it had always been difficult to get anything past Kelsey. "No I don't." She made sure not to smile, and placed a questioning look on her face.  
"Yes you do." She gave a small laugh as she talked. "It doesn't take that long to go and see if a ship has sunk or not."  
"How do you know? It's not like you've ever done it before." She always used arguing to stall whenever she was lying; she did it almost automatically. If you argue and get the other person heated up about it, they might forget what they were originally talking about. This usually didn't work with Kelsey either, however. But it was worth a shot.  
"So? I still know that it doesn't take that long."  
"We were gone for, like, five minutes."  
"No, you were gone longer than that." She crossed her arms.  
"How do you know? Did you check your watch?" She would just keep using questions as her defense; most of the time this worked. She didn't wish to embarrass herself by admitting that she and Jack had been kissing on the rowboat, even if it was just to her friends.  
Kelsey rolled her eyes. "I know what happened, so quit trying to lie about it."  
"You don't know anything. I'm not lying." _I hope this doesn't turn into a fight_, she thought nervously.  
"Yes you are! I know you are! Just admit it."  
"Admit what?"  
She rolled her eyes again. "Julie knows it too. We're not dense."  
Ariana gave a small laugh. "Knows _what_?" She automatically realized her mistake. _Wrong thing to say, wrong thing to say!  
_ She was right. "That you and Jack were doing more than just looking for the ship when you were out there!"  
Now it was Ariana who rolled her eyes. "No we weren't."  
She grinned and nodded. "Yes you were!"  
Now she couldn't help the smile that spread across her face. "No we weren't!"  
"See? You're smiling!"  
"So?" A small laugh escaped her mouth even as she tried to hold it in.  
"So you're lying!"  
"No I'm not!"  
"Okay!" Julie interrupted loudly, holding her hands up and stepping between them. "This could go on forever, you know that?" She looked at both of them. _They never take a rest_, she thought to herself.  
"Yes," Ariana responded with a small amused grin.  
"So just admit it already!" Now it was _her_ turn to argue.  
"There's nothing to admit!"  
"Yes there is!"  
"No there isn't!"  
"Okay, you know what? Let's just ask Jack," Kelsey said, and she started towards him.  
"No!" Ariana said suddenly before she could stop herself. _Dammit! Goddammit!_ _How stupid am I?!_ _I should just tape my mouth shut. . ._  
Kelsey grinned widely, satisfied. "See?"  
Ariana could feel her cheeks growing hot, and she knew they were slowly turning pink from embarrassment. She quickly shifted her gaze to the deck before replying, "Fine, you're right. Happy now?" She wanted to jump overboard at that moment. She could tell her friends were smiling. After several seconds of examining the floorboards, she looked up at them. She was right; huge grins were plastered on their faces. "What? What's the big deal?" She could feel a smile coming to her own face, even as she was attempting to keep a serious look.  
"You're lucky," Julie told her.  
"Oh, I know," she replied jokingly, grinning now without trying to hold it back, her embarrassment quickly leaving at seeing her friend jealous of her.  
"Shut up!" Kelsey said. She wouldn't admit it, but she was jealous as well.  
Ariana became serious when she realized what was supposed to happen. "Uh, guys, Shallows is dead."  
"We kinda know that!" Kelsey replied.  
"So that means we have to – we're supposed to – go back home."  
The other two girls slowly absorbed this information. They did not seem entirely happy about it.  
Neither was Ariana. She didn't want to leave Jack, now that she had him. It wasn't just lust she was feeling, she knew that now. It was something else, something she thought might just be love. She wasn't positive; but she knew it was something that she hadn't felt many times before. She had felt all other emotions numerous amounts of times, but love. . .that was something she tried to stay away from because of her experiences. She was sure that this emotion she was feeling for Jack was love, or something like it. It had to be. She was not by any means ready to leave him, not now. She couldn't – this was where she belonged, she knew it was. A life of adventure; a life with the man she was almost certain she loved. A man she wanted, _needed_ in her life; a man she wouldn't let go of, _couldn't_ let go of. A life she had dreamt about. . .adventure, true love – at least that's what she hoped it was. But maybe it wasn't such a great thing. . .after all, she had been burned by love before, and she had the scars to prove it. She didn't want to be hurt again. She didn't think that Jack would hurt her, but how could she be sure? She had been through enough pain to be unsure of everyone. But she yearned for this life so greatly. . .and she wanted Jack so bad. . .but she didn't want more pain, she couldn't take much more. And if she left Jack, that's what she would get.  
"But I don't want to go!" Kelsey said after about a minute or so, sounding like a little child.  
"Neither do I," Ariana replied rather quietly, still contemplating her situation.  
"I don't either!" Julie said.  
"Well we have to," Ariana told them, her voice still sounding quiet and faraway, as if she was behind an invisible wall and wasn't even aware of what she was saying. She became lost in her thoughts.  
After a few minutes of silence, Julie said loudly, "Ariana!"  
Ariana snapped her head up and looked at them. "What?" She hadn't even realized that she had just been standing there, staring at nothing, not even blinking. It was like she had been in a trance. Her friends gave her looks, and she shrugged and widened her eyes. "What?"  
"You were spacin' out," Kelsey told her.  
"I was? Well, so what? I'm allowed to do that."  
"What were ya thinkin' 'bout?" Julie said playfully in a suggestive voice, and Ariana knew what she meant.  
"Nothing," she lied.  
"Liar," Julie replied.  
"Whatever." Now she wasn't in an arguing mood.  
"So how are we going to get back, anyway?" Kelsey asked. "We don't know how to."  
"Well. . ." Ariana trailed off, considering the options again, this time for a different purpose. How w_ere_ they going to get back to their world? The medallion brought them here, and what would bring them back? She had no idea. There wasn't any portal that she knew of, it wouldn't make sense for there to be. . .there was no other medallion, at least none that she was aware of. . .  
"Maybe we use the medallion," Julie suggested. The medallion got them there, maybe it could get them out.  
"How?" Ariana and Kelsey both looked at her.  
"I dunno." She shrugged.  
"Well then why'd you say it?"  
"I dunno." Another shrug.  
"Actually, that may not be such a bad idea." She took on a thoughtful expression.  
"Maybe we smash it or something," Kelsey said.  
Ariana looked at her, about to comment, but stopped. Maybe she was right. Maybe they could smash it. It made sense. . .kind of. It was the only thing she could think of that made sense even a little bit. "Hey, that could work. I mean, the medallion brought us here, so maybe if we smash it, the magic or whatever it was in it would be reversed or broken or something and we could get sent back home." That could work, couldn't it? It sounded like it would. But she didn't want to leave. . .  
"That sounds like it might work," Julie said.  
"Yeah, only problem is, we don't want to leave," Kelsey said. They enjoyed it here; they were free here.  
"Yeah, but we have to. I mean, we've got our families back home. What about them? It's not like we can just get sucked into a movie and stay there with no explanation for our families, who will never see us again."  
_She has a point_, Ariana thought. _Dammit, she has a point._ "Well we could always figure out a way to let them know we're here."  
"And then what? Say, 'Oh, hi mom and dad, just wanted to let you know, we're gonna stay in this movie for the rest of our lives, okay? Bye!"  
"No, but. . .I don't know! Just – just. . ." She was at a loss for words. All she knew was that she didn't want to go. She didn't want to just leave her family, either, but this was what she had always wanted her entire life, and she never thought she would have it, and now she did. She wasn't about to just abandon it.  
"I wanna stay too, but we have to go home."  
"No we don't." She blurted it out without thinking, and she immediately wished she could take it back.  
There were a few moments of uncomfortable silence, then Julie said, "You don't wanna go home?" Though it didn't sound like a question. It sounded more like something that was final, a decision made. It sounded more like Julie was telling her that she didn't want to go home.  
Ariana thought about her answer. "No. . .not really. I mean, I don't want to leave my parents or anything, but. . .I don't want to leave here either." She didn't want to explain her exact reasons why; it wasn't just because she would get embarrassed because one of the reasons was Jack, it was also because she didn't want to embarrass herself by telling them that this was what she desired, this life. She knew they wouldn't understand. She didn't expect them to.  
"Why not? It's a _movie_, Ariana. It's not even _real_."  
She snapped her head up at this, her eyes blazing. "Not real? _NOT REAL_? If it's not real, then how are we standing here? How are we standing _right here_ if it's _not real_? How can _THIS_ – " she shoved her arm in front of her, showing the long, red gash from Shallows dagger, "– not be real? Explain to me, 'cause I'm not sure I understand what you're saying." Anger was clearly evident in her voice, and she didn't try to hold it in. It shone in her eyes dangerously, like a poison that was leaking through her body.  
"It's a _movie_, okay?"  
"So? You still haven't told me how it's not real, how everything we experiences isn't _real_." Her voice was calm now, but a dangerous calm, one just begging someone to try and get her angrier.  
"It's not real because it's a movie, okay? That's how."  
Ariana nodded. "All right. Okay." The anger was being let out now, slow and hazardously. She gripped the handle of her sword and pulled it out, the sun bouncing off the blade and causing it to gleam. Both her friends stepped back.  
_What the hell is she doing?! _Kelsey thought. _Has she gone insane?!  
_ _Oh my God, is she going to hurt us_ _to show us she thinks this is real?_ _Has she lost her mind?_ _I think she has. . .Oh my God. . ._ Julie wanted to run, but couldn't find the strength.  
Ariana advanced on them. "Is this fake, Julie?" She held the blade inches from her friend's face. "If I were to move this – " she suddenly swung it down, not touching her, and brought it to the other side of her head, "– through you, would it be fake?"  
Julie's wide eyes were going from the blade to the other girl's face, petrified. _She HAS gone insane. _  
"Ariana. . ." Kelsey said her name cautiously. What was she going to do?  
Ariana turned her head sharply to look at Kelsey. "Yes?"  
"What are you doing?" Her voice was sincerely questioning, with fear mixed in, making her sound like a small child witnessing a murder.  
"Seeing if she believes this is real yet." She was dead serious – not a hint of sarcasm or laughter anywhere. She would never hurt her friends, never in her life – but she had to scare them to make them understand. There was no other way. She turned back to Julie. She could see Jack in her peripheral vision, looking ready to grab her at any moment should she completely lose it. She wished she could tell him she was only frightening them into believing her, but that would defeat the whole purpose. She grabbed Julie's arm and held it up, exposing the wound made by Shallows. She touched it, and her friend winced. She hated to hurt her – she took her hand away. "Did you not feel that? Is that not there? It looks to me like it is." She stared into her eyes.  
It was several moments before Julie answered. "Yes I felt it."  
"That must mean it's real then." She dropped her arm and sheathed her sword. "Don't tell me any of this isn't real." Her voice trembled as suddenly, without warning, she could feel tears coming up behind her eyes, which surprised her. Where was this coming from? She tried to hold them back.  
Her friends saw the pain in her eyes and wished they could help, for they knew why it was there. That they understood.  
She couldn't help the tears as they started to fall, hitting the deck below and her shirt, wetting her cheeks. Both girls reached out and hugged her at the same time. She buried her face in Kelsey's hair. "I don't want to leave." It was barely a whisper.  
"I know. Neither do we," Kelsey said gently. "But we have to. We have our lives back home, and our families. We can't just give all of that up."  
She knew this. And she knew she couldn't leave Jack. The choice between the life she had always known with her friends and family and a life with the man she loved was tearing her apart inside, ripping her in half, and it was painful.  
The three pulled apart and Ariana wiped at her face. Jack was looking at her like he would give anything to die; he hated to see her hurting. But he knew he couldn't get involved; that would only make things worse. He had to let the girls handle it.  
"I know," Ariana replied. She hiccupped. "I know."  
Julie walked over to Jack and asked, "Where did you put the medallion?"  
"It's still in me pocket," he answered, and he instantly regretted it. If she got the medallion, that meant that she would smash it, and if she did that, she could be right, and Ariana would be taken back to her world. He didn't want to let her go. But now what could he do? He had just screwed himself. _Dammit._  
"Give it to me."  
"Why?"  
"Just give it to me." She held out her hand.  
He rolled his eyes. He didn't have a credible reason not to give it to her, not any that she would accept, anyway. He reluctantly pulled it out. When she went to grab it, he snatched it away and said, "Let me say goodbye to Ariana first."  
"Fine."  
He gave a small, short nod and gave it to her, then sashayed over to Ariana. She looked up at him.  
"Jack, I. . ." She couldn't find the words; couldn't bring herself to say them.  
"I know you have ta go, love."  
"I don't want to." She shook her head. She wanted him to know that she didn't want to let him go.  
"I know you don't. I don't want you to eitha."  
"Why can't I just stay here with you?" Before she knew it, her arms were wrapped around him and her face was buried in his shirt.  
He put his arms around her and replied, "I don't know why. Because life isn't fair."  
"You got that right." Her voice was muffled by his shirt.  
He gave a small smile, and then gazed down at her. She knew by the silence that he was, and she looked up at him. When she looked into his eyes, she forgot all about Kelsey and Julie standing there; she forgot about everything, even the crewmembers that were scattered about farther away on deck. All she could think about was him, and the life that she wanted so desperately. He leaned down and covered her mouth with his, and she felt as if she were in heaven once more, the same feeling she had every time he kissed her. Soon he pulled away, though she noticed he was rather reluctant to.  
A few seconds later, Julie said, "All right, I think we should be touching each other, just in case."  
Kelsey sighed and touched Ariana's shoulder – Ariana wasn't even aware of it. She was still gazing into Jack's eyes, and he was looking back into hers. Julie ran into the captain's quarters and emerged several minutes later with a hammer. She then put her hand on Kelsey's shoulder and placed the medallion on the ground.  
"What about. . ." Kelsey nodded her head towards Ariana and Jack, who still had their arms around each other.  
"I don't think we have to worry about that. The medallion was meant to pull only _us_ here, so obviously it would only bring _us_ back."  
Kelsey nodded and Julie raised the hammer, then brought it swiftly down onto the piece of gold. The medallion broke into little golden pieces, some as small as sand, and Ariana didn't even flinch. She was scarcely aware that it had even happened. She didn't even notice as everything around her began to change.  
She was snapped back to reality by a light smack to the back of her head. She turned to see Kelsey standing there.  
"What was that. . ." She trailed off, leaving the sentence hanging in the air unfinished, as she looked around.  
They were back in the movie theater. But one thing was wrong. . . She turned to see Jack still standing there, his arms still around her, only he was no longer looking at her, but staring around the theater, a look of curiosity and bewilderment mixed on his face. "Oh boy," she said. How had this happened? Then realization dawned on her.  
He had been holding her when Julie had broken the medallion. So he had been brought back as well, because he had been touching her. _Oh no!_ she thought fearfully. _This is bad. . .this is good. . .but this is still bad._ He was with her. . .but he was with her in the twentieth century! "Uh, guys? What do we do now?"  
  
A/N: Told you I wasn't done! Lots more to come! This is one of my longest chapters so far. I would've had this up sooner, but it took me longer than I expected to write it, because I was listening to "I Hate Everything About You" by Three Days Grace over and over and chatting with my friend at the same time, so I couldn't really focus 100% until I was almost done with it. But now it's here! Next chapter will be up soon!


	17. Some Help

You know I don't own Pirates of the Caribbean, or Jack Sparrow.  
  
Chapter Seventeen  
  
Gibbs had managed to reach the governor's house without being seen, though he had had a close call with a passerby, where he had had to jump into a bush and hide for a few moments to avoid being spotted by the woman who had stopped. He needed to reach Bootstrap's son and let him know what had happened. Maybe he would know what to do.  
He was aware of the guards at the entrance to the gates, but he didn't need to fret – he was entering through the back where there were no guards. He had expected at least one or two, but there were none. He was grateful but thought it rather stupid not to put guards back there as well.  
He hurried as quietly as he could to the back entrance and found that it was, surprisingly, unlocked. _Guess everyone's thick enough ta come in at the front_, he thought, shaking his head and rolling his eyes at other people's apparent stupidity, but still glad that it was not locked as he pulled the door open and stepped inside. He made sure the door made no noise when I closed behind him, and then looked around to see no one. _Good_. He didn't feel like putting up with any idiot who would try to immediately capture him and bring him to the Governor. That could get messy.  
He moved through the house, searching for the boy, not finding him, and ignoring the nice things he saw that were surely worth lots of money. He had no time to steal; there were more important matter at hand, and he knew it. He might be a pirate, but he knew what an emergency was.  
He entered the living room and suddenly stopped as if he had run into an invisible wall when as he caught sight of the maid, or one of the maids, dusting furniture. His eyes widened in surprise and he quickly stepped back silently and headed in the other direction. _Close one_.  
Soon he had gone throughout the entire bottom floor and had found no other person. The boy had to be upstairs. Or maybe out of the house. . .that wouldn't be good. He couldn't go exploring the whole town for one boy, not when he would surely be stopped by many and questioned. He headed up the stairs, careful to be quiet, and as he reached the landing he saw many doors and had no idea which to enter. He couldn't risk going into a room and coming face-to-face with the godforsaken Governor. He would be thrown in jail, unless the boy spoke up for him, which he didn't know if he would or not. He noticed a door at the end of the hall and decided to try that one, praying that he wouldn't meet the Governor on the other side.  
He opened the door to see Will and Elizabeth standing near the window, Will behind her with his head on her shoulder and his arms wrapped around her. They were both gazing out at the view, and had been talking quietly when Gibbs had entered. Both of them turned around swiftly to look at him, and relaxed when they realized who it was.  
"Mr. Gibbs?" Will said in a questioning voice. _Why is he here?_ he wondered curiously. _What did Jack get into now?_ It had to be something to do with his friend; he knew it did.  
"Aye," he replied, sounding worried. "Somethin's happened an' I thought that ya might be able ta help."  
"What is it?" Elizabeth asked. Will let go of her and they both kept their eyes on the man in front of them.  
"Well. . .I'm not exactly sure, actually. . .ya see, we was all on the Black Pearl an'. . .well, see there were these three girls – teenagers – that we found an' they needed ta smash some medallion fer somethin', I don't quite know what, an' when they did, they jus'. . .disappeared, an' so did Jack. Somethin' tells me he wasn't sposed ta go with 'em, wherever they went."  
Elizabeth burst out laughing, thinking it was a joke, but Will's serious face caused her to stop.  
"Would they be the same teenagers that came to me earlier today?" he asked Gibbs.  
"Aye." He nodded.  
"So Jack is here?"  
"WAS here. The ship's hidden around the other side o' the island."  
Will's eyebrows rose and lowered as he took in the information. "So the Black Pearl's right here?"  
"Aye." Another nod.  
"You actually believe him?" Elizabeth asked her fiancé, as if she thought him insane.  
"Well, I. . .it's just that. . ." He searched for words.  
"You believe that Jack Sparrow and three teenage girls just disappeared into thin air?"  
"Do ye think that I woulda come all the way here and risked bein' caught an' hanged if I was lyin'?" Gibbs said.  
"He's got a point, Elizabeth," Will told her. "And besides, three teenage girls came to me earlier today and they were the ones who told me to tell your father to order the Navy to destroy that ship. They said they were friends of Jack, and they told me everything that happened before with Ba'bossa. How else could they have known?"  
"Well, yes, but still – it's insane! Just vanishing into thin air." She threw out her hand for emphasis, nearly smacking Will in the face.  
"Maybe not. Last year you would've thought that immortal pirates that could turn into skeletons in the moonlight were insane." He raised his eyebrows with a hint of a grin.  
She gave him a look. "But that's different, I mean – that's still more believable than four people just disappearing into nothing."  
"Maybe for you. But I think that maybe, just maybe, Gibbs is telling the truth." He turned to Gibbs. "Possibly." He looked back at Elizabeth. "And you know, he's right – he risked his life by coming here. I don't think he would do that unless it was an emergency."  
Elizabeth didn't know what to say. She knew that these two men had a point; there was no way Gibbs would have come had it not been something of utmost importance. But. . .just disappearing like that? It couldn't be possible.  
After several seconds of silence, Will asked, "So why did you come to us?"   
"Well, actually, I came ta _you_, seein' as how you were with 'im the whole time when all o' that was goin' on. I thought maybe ya might know what ta do."  
"Well if you're really telling the truth – then I'll help in any way I can. You said something about a medallion?"  
"Aye."  
"Well – where did they get it? Is it another one from that chest of cursed gold?"  
"No. The cap'n of another ship took it from some cave. I think I might remember how ta get there."  
"All right, well that's a start. We can go to the cave and search. Maybe there's something there that will bring them back."  
"Jus' so's ya know, it's about a day there from here."  
"That's not too much." He had been on longer journeys before.  
"I'm still having a ratha difficult time believing you," Elizabeth told Gibbs.  
"Well, I didn't expect ya to believe me, Ms. Swann. I really only needed Will here to, he's the one I was hopin' could help." He turned to Will. "So ya best be getting yer things, if yer plannin' on takin' anythin'."  
"We'll have to stop by the blacksmith shop, so I can get a sword, just in case," he replied. "Elizabeth? Will you be needing anything?"  
"No, I don't think I will, besides a dress or two."  
Will gave a small grin. "Of course." He knew that any lady going on a voyage would not care to wear the same thing every day, and he would respect that.  
"Well hurry, we don't know when the Governor could come on in here an' find me," Gibbs told her.  
"My fatha is still with the men at the fort. They just attacked a pirate ship that came."  
"Aye, I know."  
"You know?"  
"Aye. Jack an' the crew – we was bein' chased by that ship. We sent the three girls ta Will."  
She nodded in understanding before heading to her closet and picking out a few dresses, then producing a suitcase from the bottom of it and placed them neatly inside after folding them. She closed it and stood, shutting the closet door and turning to face the men. "Just hold on a moment," she told them, and got a piece of parchment and a feather, along with a bottle of ink. She dipped the feather into the bottle and began writing:  
  
_Dear Father,  
_  
_Will and I have gone on a short vacation,_ _we'll be back in less than a week._ _Please don't fret -_ _we are fine, _w_e're traveling safely,_ a_nd I have everything I need, as does Will.  
_  
_Love,_   
_Elizabeth  
_  
She left the letter on her desk. She did not explain why she was departing so quickly and only leaving a note – after all, what explanation was there? She could not put down the r_eal_ reason why they were going, unless she wanted her father to come after her and most likely have Will hung, for he would probably assume it was all Will's idea and even if it wasn't, he might still go along with it because Will was, actually, helping a pirate once again. It was just a little lie; it wasn't as if he would get _too_ angry over them going on a vacation without saying goodbye. She turned around and said to them, "All right, we're off!"  
They were able to leave the house without anyone taking notice, thankfully, for they went out the same way Gibbs came in. When they reached the blacksmith shop, they all entered and Will found Mr. Brown asleep in his chair, as usual. He grabbed one of the more recent swords he had created and sheathed it in his belt.  
"Ye should always bring a sword when yer goin' on the open sea," Gibbs said, nodding, as Will came back towards the entrance and the three of them left.  
They made it to the beach with being stopped; Will and Elizabeth had been certain that someone would query them, but instead all they had received were a few questioning looks, people wondering why the Governor's daughter and her fiancé were walking around with a man like _that_.  
They all climbed into the rowboat and Gibbs took them to the ship, which was still hidden away where it had been before. Once they were aboard, Elizabeth made to search the entire ship to make sure that Gibbs really wasn't lying, but Will stopped her and convinced her that he was telling the truth, though it took a few minutes. With that, they set sail.  
  
A/N: I know, the ending was kinda weak. But see? Lots more is going to happen! Lots more! AHAHAHAHAHA!!! 


	18. Unknown Objects And Hysterical Reactions

STILL DON'T OWN PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN. STILL DON'T OWN JACK SPARROW. GODDAMMIT.  
  
Pirate: Thank you SO much for all the help! I decided to go with it being the same day as they left though. . .it's just a little easier on my brain if I do that.   
  
Jacqui10: Okay, first of all, it wasn't as weird back then, and she's almost 18. And yes, Johnny is 40, but if I want to make 28, I can. It's my fanfic. And I HATE Mary-Sues, I'm not trying to do that at all. If I am, then I'll slap myself, kay? Kay. And I know about Anamaria, but they never seemed to have _that_ kind of relationship. And I might go back later on and change Ariana's age anyway.  
  
Chapter Eighteen  
  
"I don't know. . ." Julie trailed off, gazing at Jack with a bewildered look on her face. He was staring around at the theater, which Ariana just noticed was empty. Why? They had been in the movie for six days. There should have been people here watching the movie. _But_, she speculated, _time goes faster in movies,_ _so it would make sense that it's still the same day here as it was when we left._ _At least I think it is. . ._ She hoped she was correct, for the realization just now hit her that Jack, in this world, was Johnny Depp, and if there were people at the theater, they would spot him and total chaos would break out.  
Kelsey now became aware of the empty theater as well. "Hold on. Why is the theater empty?"  
"I think it's because time passes quicker in movies, so it must be the same day here as it was when we left," Ariana explained her own reasoning.  
"That would make sense." She nodded.  
"Which is a good thing, because if there were people here, they'd attack Jack or something 'cause they'd think he was Johnny."  
"Who's Johnny?" Jack asked, finally looking back at the girls.  
"No one," Ariana quickly answered. She glanced back at the screen. It was blank. The movie was over. It sort of made sense. . .the movie spanned a time period of four or five days, and they had been there six. . .so the movie had ended. _Yeah. I guess that kind of makes sense._ "How the hell are we going to get back in there?"  
"What?" Julie asked, seeming utterly surprised. "We just finally got back to our own world, and you immediately just want to go back into the movie?!" She couldn't believe her friend. How could she actually want to go back into that movie, where there was so much danger? It wasn't even her time period; it wasn't even _real_!  
"Well. . ." At first she was at a loss for words. She _wanted_ to say, _Yes, I want to go back into the movie_, but she knew that she could not, and she knew that Julie would go berserk. So instead she said, "We need to get Jack back in there."  
"And how do you suppose we do that?" Kelsey asked skeptically.  
"I don't know. . .somehow we will. . ." She could come up with no solution.  
"If I may ask, what _is_ this place?" Jack said, now eyeing the huge screen behind him curiously.  
"This. . ." Ariana wasn't entirely certain it was a good idea to tell him. She did not know if there would be consequences to that or not. But then again, what harm could it do? It was Jack, after all. . .and she couldn't just _lie_ to him. "This is a movie theater."  
"Why did you tell him that?" Julie asked.  
"What? What's the big deal? So I told him where he was. Now it's the end of the world, for sure." Sarcasm dripped from her voice. "Besides, it's not as if we can bring him outside and not tell him anything."  
"Why? What's outside?" Jack asked, suddenly intrigued. Before any of them could stop him, he had begun walking up the aisle between the rows of seats, seeming almost to forget all about the fact that there was this gigantic screen behind him that he had never before seen in all his life.  
"No! Jack! Wait!" Ariana called loudly, running after him. She could hear her friends hurrying behind her. She caught up with him at the doors leading to the main room where they served the snacks, popcorn, and drinks. She grabbed his arm.  
"What?" he inquired, turning to look at her.  
"Um. . ." She searched her head for any reason why he could not go outside. "You can't go out there because. . .there are things out there that you. . .don't know about. . .that might confuse you or something. . ." She was having an enormously difficult time finding the right words to come out of her mouth.  
"Oh really? Well then that just makes my curiosity grow, now doesn't it?" he said, grinning and easily pulling him arm out of her grasp. She tried to take hold of it again, but he was already through the doors. The three girls followed him.  
He had stopped abruptly once he had gone through. He didn't know what it was that he saw. There were different-colored boxes in a big glass counter, and next to them was a large amount of some sort of yellow food. Behind that counter was another, which had an odd-looking machine on it that had six box-shaped things hanging from it, and each one had a different word on it. (A/N: The soda things they have at the fast food places and such). Then there was a large glass container that held bottles of water – though the bottles were made of a material he did not recognize.  
He tore his gaze away from that to look out the glass doors. Beyond them there was something he had never seen before. It looked large, red and shiny. There were black circles at the bottom of it. Were those wheels? They didn't look like any he had ever seen. He turned around and saw the three teenagers approaching him. "What is that?" he asked them, pointing to the big object outside as if he was a 5-year-old.  
"That's a car," Ariana told him, without any hesitation this time.  
"A – car?" He had never heard of a _car_. What was it for?  
"Yes, a car," Julie said.  
"What does it do?" He sounded so curious it was almost funny.  
"It helps you travel," Ariana answered.  
"Is it like a carriage?"  
"No, not really. It's not pulled by horses, it can go by itself."  
"It can move by itself without horses?" Now he was perplexed. How could something travel without even being pulled? It simply was not possible; the only thing that could do that was a ship, and even then, it was pushed along by the wind. . .  
"Yes."  
"How can it do that, exactly?"  
"You'll see." She gave a small grin.  
"You mean I get to ride in it?" All of a sudden he seemed rather excited. His reaction reminded Ariana of a young child who had just been told he was getting a surprise present.  
"Yes, you do. So do we."  
"How does it move?" He was interested to know. It seemed impossible.  
"That's a little too complicated for you. You wouldn't understand."  
"How can you be so sure?"  
"Trust me, I'm sure." She would have to explain to him all about what an engine was and how it helped move the car, and the wheels, and the steering wheel. . .too much to deal with.  
He seemed to accept her answer. "Well, what are we waiting for?" With that, he pushed the door open and began heading towards the car at a fast pace. The three girls quickly followed him.  
He noticed that the ground was also something he was not familiar with. . .it was not cobblestones, or dirt, or just plain rocks and pebbles. . .it was something else that he could not identify, something harder and sturdier and darker. _Odd_, he thought. _Extremely odd_. He jumped up and down, and heard a peculiar sound whenever he came back in contact with the ground. He could hear Ariana, Kelsey, and Julie laughing behind him. He ignored it and commenced walking again.  
He stopped when he reached the car and just stood there, eyeing it and studying it. The three came up behind him and Ariana took out her keys from her pocket, going around to the driver's side and unlocking the doors. She opened hers and looked at Jack, waiting for him to do the same.  
He didn't. He just remained standing, staring at the car as if it were an alien, a very interesting alien. After a few moments, Julie reached out and said, "Watch." Then she slipped her hand onto the handle and pulled the door open. Then she shut it. "Got it? Now you do it."  
He looked at the handle for a few seconds before grabbing it and pulling. The door opened and his eyebrows shot up in surprise as he stared at the inside of the car. He had not seen the inside of many carriages, but he did know that this was undeniably different.  
"Get in," Ariana told him, trying hard to keep her laughter in.  
"Uh – do I sit on this seat here?" he questioned, pointing to the seat on the passenger's side.  
"Yes," she told him, drawing out the word and nodding while working even harder to suppress the giggles.  
He ducked and climbed in, sitting down on the seat and pulling the door closed. Then he looked around him as he had done in the theater while Kelsey and Julie clambered into the back. "This is the strangest thing I've eva' seen," he stated.  
"I'm sure it is." Ariana couldn't help but grin.  
"How does it move? Can we use it to go somewhere?" Again he asked that "moving" question.  
She wasn't sure about that. What if she needed to stay in the theater in case they somehow got pulled back in? Or Jack was pulled back in? But what if she didn't? After all, it would certainly be fun to see Jack's reaction to everything else. . .a little fun never hurt anyone. . . "Sure, why not?" she replied, sticking the key into the ignition and turning the car on. Jack's brow furrowed and his eyes widened as he heard the engine come to life and felt the vehicle slightly vibrate. He whipped his head all about, moving so fast that the beads in his hair nearly smacked him in the face. The girls couldn't keep their laughter to themselves any longer. "What? What's so funny? What in the _hell_ is that noise?" he asked, sounding almost frantic.  
"That's the car, Jack. Don't worry," Ariana assured him between giggles.  
"The _CAR_ is making that noise? What is it, the car from _HELL_?"  
"No!" She burst into another fit of laugher. "All cars make that noise when you first turn them on! And even after they're on, they make a _bit_ of noise, not much though."  
"Well I don't like it."  
"Too bad." She was still slightly giggling as she put the car in reverse and drove it backwards. Once it began moving, Jack gripped his seat and shot nervous glances in all directions. Ariana noticed this and grinned. "It's fine, Jack, the car's just moving. It's how we get from place to place. It's fine. Here. Put this on." She pressed down on the brake, then reached over and grabbed the seatbelt hanging next to him.  
He relished the feel of her body pressed against his as she leaned over, and was disappointed when she sat back, some sort of strap in her hand.  
"What's that?" he asked, eyeing it with an air of suspicion and curiosity.  
"It's called a seatbelt. It's what we use so that if we get in a car crash, we don't go flying through this glass here." She pointed to the windshield with one hand, while the other hand buckled him in. Then she turned and faced front, putting the car in drive and turning it to the right, driving out of the parking lot. Jack was staring out the window in amazement at the buildings and what he assumed were other cars. There were so many of them – blue, green, black, white, almost every color he could think of, and they were all shaped differently. But he could see some that were the same shape; many that were the same color. Some were still, but most were moving. He felt rather odd watching everything go by him as the car moved – he felt odd just sitting there and still moving at the same time. It was such a weird sensation, with no horses. How did they become accustomed to it?  
He spent the entire car ride staring out the window, wondering what everything was, numerous questioned swirling about in his head. None of it looked at all familiar to him – everything was big and moving, and there were so many colors and strange things that he had never seen before. But he did see people walking, dressed in the same type of clothing the girls had, and a few were riding weird, large objects that had two big circles and handles that the riders grasped, with a seat where they were situated. It looked as if pumping their legs up and down caused the contraptions to move. He was too interested in all of it to ask what it actually was.  
They turned down a small, quieter street that had no cars. There were large houses that had cars at them which were not moving, and they drove down to the third house, which was surrounded by many great trees. The house itself was rather large as well. _She must be rich, if this is where she lives_, he thought as they went up the rocky driveway that curved around the house. But in this time, _rich_ had a whole different meaning than what he knew. When they reached the back, the car stopped.  
Ariana undid her seatbelt, then his, and once again reached over. She opened the door.  
"How did you do that?" he asked her.  
"Don't worry about how I did it. Just step out."  
He complied and shut the door behind him, seeing that all the other doors were shut. _What a peculiar thing_, he mused. _But very interesting_. He followed the three of them to the door and inside. Ariana headed to a big white box that was up against the wall and opened the door. He could see ice inside of it, and felt the cold rushing out at him.  
"What is _that_?" he asked, wrapping his arms around himself for warmth.  
"It's called a freezer," Ariana explained, pulling a key from the inside of the door and walking over to another, the one that led into the house. (A/N: They were on a porch). Once she had it open, she put the key back and shut the freezer door, then moved through the doorway, Kelsey, Julie, and Jack coming in after her. Jack shut the door once they were all in, and turned, taking in his surroundings.  
"Where are your parents?" Julie asked Ariana.  
"They went away for a few days, some romantic vacation or something like that. They left this morning, after dad told the people at the move theater they had the day off. I told you already, don't you remember?"  
"Oh yeah. . ."  
"Yeah."  
There was another big white box in this room. He approached it and saw that it was divided in two, the bottom half much larger. He opened the top first, and was met with a blast of icy cold air. He quickly shut it and spun around, his long hair flying out around him, his beads once again nearly whipping him in the face, and said, "What in the hell is _that_?"  
Ariana gave a small laugh and answered, "That's another freezer. It's where we put things that we want to freeze."  
"You _freeze _things?" What did she mean? How could she _freeze_ something just by putting it in a box? He decided not to ask and pulled open the bottom door rather hesitantly. This time it was not freezing cold air that he felt, just mildly cool. This half was filled with all kinds of different foods and drinks. He looked at the shelves and spotted an apple. He grabbed it and closed the door. Taking a bite, he asked, "And what's that?"  
"That's the fridge. We put things we want to keep fresh in there, so they don't spoil or rot."  
"You can keep things fresher just by putting them in there?" He had stopped chewing and the hand that held his apple flung out towards the fridge. Ariana struggled to keep herself from laughing.  
"Yes, we can. Again, a little complicated to explain."  
He slowly began chewing again as he thought and looked around the room.  
There was a large blue counter that stretched across nearly half the wall, and there was some sort of shiny basin that seemed to be made of silver that was attached to it. He walked over and saw that there were two handles on either side of a long, thing something that stretched out over the basin. He pulled one of the handles forward and water instantly gushed out of the thing silver thing. His eyes widened in surprise and he whirled and said, "You can get water just by pulling a handle?!" He sounded utterly shocked.  
"Yup," Ariana replied, grinning along with her friends. "Pretty nifty, huh?"  
He pushed the handle back and the water flow ceased. He pulled it forward – water – pushed it backward – no water. He grinned and kept turning the water on and off, amusing himself for a few minutes before finally stopping and looking around once more.  
There was a silver box on the counter that had four slits in it (A/N: toaster), but it did not look incredibly interesting. He turned to his left. There was an oven, which he recognized. _At least there's something familiar here_. Above it was something else that had four black circles on it, and there was also a white box (A/N: microwave) near it. Farther to his left was another room, but this one contained objects he was acquainted with. There was a large, polished wooden table, surrounded by about six wooden chairs with some sort of cushioning on them.  
He turned again to see a doorway leading to the rest of the house and walked through, not even noticing that the floor he was walking on was not wooden nor anything else he had ever tread on before.  
He caught sight of a room to his right and decided to take a look. He strode in and saw another small basin, but this one was white. There were two mirrors – he knew those – and there were two large types of white machines against the wall he did not recognize. They looked rather strange, and so he came up to them. He saw a lid on one and opened it – empty. He shut it and opened the lid on the other on, which was on the front, not on top. Again, empty. He shut it. What could those be for?  
He spun and saw another white object. This was certainly something he had _never_ seen before, not even anything remotely like it. Even the shape was unfamiliar. He cautiously approached it and lifted the lid, revealing a hollow inside that was also white, with water in it and a hole at the bottom. _What the hell?_ He noticed a silver handle near the top of the back of the object. _Now what does this do?_ He reached out and pressed it down.  
"_**WHOA**_!" he shouted loudly, jumping back in fright and landing on his bottom as the device generated a startling, daunting noise almost as loud as his scream that he had never heard before and the water began swirling down into the hole. He heard laughter and looked over to see the girls standing a few feet from him, very amused. Ariana was doubled over from her mirth. He rose to his feet and gave the noisy contraption a hateful look before walking towards them. "What in the _HELL _is _THAT_?!" he asked loudly, practically shouting and pointing at the piece of equipment.  
Ariana couldn't answer him; her laughter overrode any words she could've said. So Kelsey told him, "That's a toilet!" She was still chuckling as well.  
"A _TOILET_? What in the hell is a _TOILET_?" Bewilderment and resentment for the stupid thing were plastered on his face.  
"Obviously something you don't like very much," Julie said, attempting to stop her out-of-control giggles but was unsuccessful.  
Jack rolled his eyes and walked past them into the room he had occupied before. He hadn't gotten a good look at it; now he did.  
There was a table in front of him covered with different kinds of beads, necklaces, and bracelets. He resisted the urge to grab as many as he could – after all, this was Ariana's house, and there was no way he would ever steal from her. He turned and saw a large table with a chair and a big box on top of the table. It was a little longer than a foot all around, and it had some odd board below it that had a bunch of tiny squares with letters printed on them. He raised a questioning eyebrow, but decided not to try to figure out how it worked.  
He strode into the next room, which by far was the largest. It included two oversized, long brown couches with a wooden table between them. There were two tall bookcases at the end of them, holding books, perfumes, and other things he did not recognize. After the bookcase nearest to him he could see a large box, much bigger and blacker than the one in the previous room. It was in an even larger wooden box that was connected to a small cabinet beneath it. He stepped closer to the black box, and he could see his reflection in it, though it was dark. He noticed some sort of buttons at the bottom, and he reached out and pressed one.  
The box flashed and suddenly he could see people moving _inside_ _the box_. He let out a shout and fell backwards, landing on his butt once more. He heard the laughing again, and when he turned his head, sure enough, they were standing next to the couch. He stood and shot the box and angry glare, but then the anger dissolved into confusion at the sight of the people in it. Wait. . .there were people in it? And they were moving? They were tiny! How could they have gotten in there? "What the hell is this thing?" he asked not moving his gaze. "How do these people get in there?"  
More uproar. Obviously he had said something stupid.  
"That's – that's – a – TV," Ariana told him, gasping for breath while still hooting wildly. "Those – people – in there – aren't – living, they're – they're – " She didn't know how to explain it to him. At least not in any way he would understand. He would _never_ be able to comprehend how a television operated.  
Kelsey managed to cease her laughter and told him, "It's a little too complicated for you. We'll just tell you that those people aren't _in_ the TV."  
_I'm still confused as hell_. He watched the mini-people moving on the screen. He now realized that they were talking as well, talking to each other. How could they not be in the TV when they _were_? They were right in front of him, moving around _inside_ the thing. He just didn't get it.  
That was when the knocking came at the door.  
  
A/N: Okay! I finally have it up! Yay me! And it's really long too! Woohoo! Is it funny? I tried to make it as funny as I could! 


	19. Surprise Visit

Pirates of the Caribbean still doesn't belong to me. Neither does Jack Sparrow. God, do I hate that fact.

**EVERYONE READ THIS** – I just rented Edward Scissorhands and it is an _awesome_ movie. I like it more than POTC! Anyone who hasn't seen it needs to go rent it. I **_LOVED_** it. I guarantee you'll like it, and if you don't, then something is seriously wrong with you.

Chapter Nineteen 

_ Oh no_, Ariana thought, her body tensing up as the sound reached her eats harsher than usual. Fear gripped her like an iron fist as her stomach dropped to her toes. _No, this CANNOT be happening._ _Not now._ _Please let it be a delivery guy or something. . ._ If the unknown visitor caught sight of Jack, it would unleash a slew of questions Ariana couldn't answer. Maybe she could hide him somewhere.  
"Jack – " She turned to him, only to find that he was heading straight towards the door.  
"Who's that?" he questioned as he went, his brow furrowed in wonder.  
_Damn his curiosity_, she thought rather harshly. "Jack, wait!" She extended an arm as if that would bring him away from the door.  
But he was already in sight of the mysterious guest. The three girls shot after him, unsure of what to do but realizing they had to do _something_.  
An exclamation of "Oh my God!" came from the other side of the door, accompanied by the sound of someone jumping up and down.  
Ariana's stomach knotted instantly as she recognized the voice. She felt a cold wave of anxiety wash over her as if she had fallen fifty feet into frigid sea water once again when her friend Alix came into view, standing behind the half-glass door with a mixture of surprise, joy, and confusion on her face.  
Jack opened the door, eyeing the teenager. "And who might you be?"  
Her curly brown shoulder-length hair framed her tan face as she stared up at him with dark brown eyes that practically mirrored his own.  
"You – you're – you're. . ." She stood with her mouth slightly open for several seconds before slowly reaching out and poking him. "Are you real?" Under normal circumstances Ariana would've found it humorous.  
He gave a slight laugh of amusement. "Of course I'm real. I'm standing right in front of you, aren't I? How could that be if I wasn't real?" Was this girl feeling all right?  
She gazed at her main celebrity crush (or so she thought), taking in everything about him to keep as a mental image since she knew she couldn't take him home. Although, _Ariana_ had apparently done just that. Her brow creased in addled curiosity. "What are you doing here? And why are you dressed as Jack, and using the accent?"  
"What do you – "  
He was swiftly cut off as Ariana hurriedly jumped into the conversation. "You see, he's. . ." She searched for any explanation. It felt as if a huge eraser was being dragged across her brain and wiping out each idea that came to her. Who was she going to tell her? Not the truth, obviously. . . But she had to come up with _something_, before Jack opened his mouth again. "He's. . .here – because. . .we – won a contest!" Her voice rose as she latched on to the sudden lie that formed itself in her head. "Yeah! We won a contest to have Johnny Depp come and spend the day with us, and he would be in his Pirates of the Caribbean role! Because we just love that role so much." She added the last sentence to make it seem more credible. It seemed to work, as Alix was slowly nodding.  
"That is _SO_ not fair!" she burst out after a few more seconds of gawking, causing Julie to give a small jump of surprise. "How come you didn't tell me about the contest?"  
Ariana was once more at a loss for words.  
Kelsey spoke instead. "Because we were the last ones to enter. It ended at a certain time and we entered, like, minutes before it, so we didn't have time to tell you about it and give you time to enter, too." The words flowed smoothly, as if she had already had the whole fabrication planned. Ariana raised her eyebrows, impressed.  
"Oh. Well why didn't you tell me that you won?" There was a hint of masked suspicion in her voice, though barely perceivable.  
"I guess we just forgot since we were so excited," Julie told her. She never _had_ been very good at lying. . .  
"Uh huh." She didn't appear entirely convinced, but since she had no knowledge of the truth of the matter, she couldn't discredit their story. She looked at Jack again. "Can I spend the day with you guys?" Hope shone on her face.  
_Oh boy_, Ariana thought anxiously. _What do I tell her now?_ _In reality, there'd be no reason for her not to stay. . .but with the time we've had,_ _what IS reality anyway?_ _If I tell her to leave, she'll know something's up. . .She's not stupid, after all. . .Or she might just think we're sending her away because we're bitches. . .  
_"Can I give you a hug?" Alix suddenly asked Jack.  
He looked down at her and was silent for a few seconds. He shifted his gaze to Ariana, questioning with his eyes what he should do, but she appeared lost in thought and wasn't paying attention. He decided that he couldn't act here as he would normally, for if he did, he would decline her request. But from what he could tell, he was obviously someone she knew, somehow, and saying "no" would probably cause some problems. Besides, she seemed like a sweet enough kid. What could it hurt?  
"Um. . .of course," he answered, still sounding unsure.  
She smiled wider than he thought possible for a human being and wrapped her arms around him, nearly squeezing all the air from his lungs in the process. He put his arms around her lightly and waited to be released, receiving his wish several moments later. _Yes. . .I can breathe again. . .  
Maybe if I tell her that he has some kind of disease. . . No, that wouldn't work. . ._ Ariana was still searching blindly for ideas, anything that would come to her, unsuccessfully. _Maybe I can tell her that he can't have more than three fans around him at a time. . . No, that's stupid. . . What if he just doesn't want to be around more than three fans at a time?_ _That might work. . .but then again maybe it won't. . .it would make him sound like a jerk. . .  
_"So? Can I spend the day with you guys?" Alix's expectant voice interrupted Ariana's thoughts and she looked up.  
"Um. . .I don't know about that. . ." Ariana began hesitantly, not knowing what else to say. She didn't want to hurt Alix's feelings by making her feel like they didn't want her there. She had to come up with a reason, and a good one.  
Alix's face took on a sad, perplexed look. "Why not?" Her voice had lost all the zest it had possessed just moment before, and already Ariana felt horrible.  
"Because. . .it's just that. . .well, you see. . ." She swore in her head. Why couldn't she ever think of anything anymore? Was she cursed?  
Jack noticed how drained Ariana seemed and said to Alix, "It's just that. . .the people that sent me here, they – they said that I could only spend the day with these three, and no one else. That's all it is, really." He spoke slowly, choosing his words carefully, uncertain of what to say. He thought that maybe Ariana and Kelsey talking about winning a contest to spend the day with this Johnny person, whoever that was, maybe meant that he was Johnny in this world, and that someone or some people had sent him here. Wow, he was confusing himself just thinking about it. . .  
"Oh. . ." She still had that disappointed, unhappy look on her face that made him feel as if he'd said the wrong thing. Had he? He wasn't sure. After all, he didn't have the slightly clue as to what was going on. . .not much of a clue, anyway. Suddenly her head snapped up to look at him, her eyes sparkling with new anticipation. "Well who says they have to find out if you have one extra fan with you? It's not like they're following you around or anything like that."  
"Well, it's not like we _know_ if they're following him around or not; after all, stars these days have security all over them. How do we know that someone isn't following him to keep an eye on him and make sure he doesn't get into any trouble or anything like that?" Ariana explained, grateful that she was finally able to come up with something.  
"Well, how do we know that someone _is_?" Alive shot back, determined to spend the day with her favorite actor.  
"I just don't think we should take any chances, that's all." She didn't want to act unfair, but she couldn't let Alix stay; she just couldn't. She would risk her finding out that he was really Jack in many ways that she didn't want to see happen.  
"Oh, but you should! You should always take chances, that's what they're there for!" Alix said, a glimmer of desire still in her eyes.  
"Well, you see. . . my – security – " he said the word in a rather confused voice, not really certain of what it meant, "has been known to follow me around when I go places. I don't want to risk this day being ruined by them, or you getting in trouble for being here, do you?"  
Alix sighed with displeasure. "But I don't get to see stars like you often, you know! I _LOVE_ you! I've seen all your movies, and they _ROCK_! I just really wanna spend the day with you 'cause I don't know if I'll ever get this kind of chance again! And besides, even if your security _is_ following you around, even if they catch me, what are they gonna do? Throw me in jail because my friends won a contest to be with you and I wanted to see you too?"  
"I really don't know, but – I think it's better if you leave before they find you here, if they _are_ following me, which they very well may be."  
The hope had now disappeared from her eyes and was replaced by severe disappointment and sadness. Ariana wanted to kick herself, but she knew that there was nothing she could do. She couldn't let her stay. It would be way too jeopardous.  
Alix looked at Ariana and said, point a finger at her, "You **better** take pictures and video tape him and whatever else you can do! I want as much of this day as I can get!" Then she looked back up at Jack. "Do you think that could possibly autograph a picture or two for me? Please?" Her tone was practically pleading.  
"Um, I'll – see what I can do," he told her. _What the hell is a video tape?  
_She beamed. "Thank you **_SO_** much! You don't know how much that means to me! Can I give you a hug goodbye?"  
"Of course," he replied, and she once again threw her arms around him and he could swear his ribcage was pushed up at least an inch. He hugged her back and, a while after, she reluctantly let go.  
She fixed her eyes on him. "Bye." Then she grudgingly turned and walked in the opposite direction, looking back at him until she was out the door and around the corner of the house.  
"Wow, I can't believe we got away with that," Ariana said, relaxing. "I wonder why she didn't ask to have us take a picture of her with him."  
"Maybe she forgot," Julie suggested, shrugging.  
"Maybe."  
"What in hell's name is a camera?" Jack asked, shutting the door to the porch and turning to eye the three of them.  
"Just never mind that, you wouldn't understand," Ariana told him, waving a hand.  
"Well what about that girl? Who was she? And how did she know me? And why did she want to hug me?"  
"That was one of my friends. She knew you because. . .in this world, you're. . .somebody else, let's just put it that way. She wanted to hug you because you're really well-known here and she's a fan of yours."  
"I'm somebody else here? What in the blazes does that mean?" Bewilderment was etched into his face, though he had already assumed he was not Jack Sparrow in this world.  
"It means. . .that. . .it means something that would confuse you some more, so don't even worry about it." She hoped he would accept her answer.  
He was about to inquire further into the matter when he remembered something else she had said. "I'm well-known here as well?" He grinned.  
She grinned back as she replied, "Yeah. But let's not get into that."

A/N: Okay, it's finally up! I was having a bit of writer's block, and I still kinda am, but I'll try to add more as soon as I can! (Writer's block is the reason this took so long to get up, and why it's kinda short. DAMN YOU, WRITER'S BLOCK, YOU BITCH!)


	20. Don't Leave Jack Unattended

Pirates of the Caribbean still isn't mine, doesn't belong to me, Johnny Depp doesn't belong to me, unfortunately. . . . .

**Hobbes288**: I've seen Sleepy Hollow, as well as about ten other Johnny Depp movies (or more ;-)) so far. It IS really good!

Chapter Twenty

Jack was seated on the cushy brown couch, watching the people in the – what was it called? TV, that was it. He was still mystified by the fact that people could be moving and talking in it, even after Ariana had attempted to explain that they weren't actually _in_ it. How was it possible? If they weren't truly in it, then where were they?

The three girls were in the kitchen, which didn't look like any kitchen he had _ever_ seen before. Their voices had been carrying into the living room for the past five or ten minutes, but he couldn't understand what they were saying for their hushed tones and the TV, nor did he want to. Whatever they were discussing was their business. Besides, he didn't even know how to turn the TV off; Ariana had turned it on with her consent for him to watch it before heading into the kitchen. He wondered if they were talking about him. . .

He came to the conclusion that his current activity was rather boring. No doubt the TV was interesting – but it perplexed him a great deal, which he didn't appreciate. Being unable to figure something out annoyed him plenty. He didn't want to be around the TV, and the girls were busy, so what was there to do? He could explore the rest of the house. . . _Like Ariana's bedroom_, he thought to himself, a grin slowly coming to his face at this marvelous idea. Now he regarded the TV with a much better attitude; if it was on, they would think he was still watching it, and he would be able to slip upstairs undetected.

He stood and moved cautiously to the staircase, glancing furtively over at the kitchen every few seconds. They didn't notice him. He was careful not to make a sound as he crept up the stairs and into the hall. He was just as silent as he walked along, opening the first door.

This couldn't be Ariana's room – there were men's clothes on the dresser. _I hope her father doesn't come home when I'm here_, he thought apprehensively as he shut the door and opened the second.

This one was definitely a woman's – but he didn't think it was Ariana's either. There was a large amount of beaded, elegant jewelry on the dresser, and he spotted a few skirts slung over a chair near the far wall. Ariana had _loathed_ wearing the dress back in his world, so this couldn't be her room either – he assumed she wouldn't wear skirts or jewelry as adult as what he saw. So he gently pulled the door closed and moved further down, catching sight of a door at the very end of the hallway.

The moment he opened it his eyes widened in alarm. There was another one of those white things that Ariana had called a toilet. He didn't want to be anywhere near one of those for, though he would never admit it, he was the tiniest bit afraid of them after what had happened earlier on. The thing had just made such a loud, bizarre noise at him, and it had made him fall down! He hurriedly shut the door and noticed another to his right, the only other door upstairs. This had to be Ariana's room.

He opened the door and entered eagerly. He was met with millions of eyes staring at him. There were people all over the walls! He stared back, looking around in amazement and even a sort of shock. There were _people_ on the _walls_. _What the hell?_ They were everywhere – covering almost every inch of wall and even ceiling, they were on the ceiling too. It seemed like they were all watching him. He went over to one person and poked them. They didn't move. They were on a piece of shiny paper – the paper moved; they stayed still. Their eyes were still fixed on him. He stepped back and decided to just try and ignore the people around him, whoever or whatever they were.

There was a large bed covered by a green comforter that appeared to have pictures of dragons on it. The pillows were the same. There was a fuzzy brown blanket folded at the end of the bed. He had never seen bed covers or pillows like that before. . .then again, he hadn't seen several things in this world before. He scanned the room.

There was a sizeable wooden desk cluttered with all kinds of items: piles of papers, books, thin cases of glass with pictures and words on the top (A/N: CD's), writing utensils, a lamp, and in the center of everything, a huge silver box with buttons and circles flanked on either side by tall towers with large circles on them. (A/N: sound system).

He turned around to see another TV with a bunch of objects stacked beside it. There was a black box with lots of silver buttons on it, and a smaller black box on top of that with a red number, 11, glaring at him. He remembered seeing a box like that downstairs, but it had read 09. He dashed any thoughts of attempting to figure out what it was.

Besides those, everything else in the room seemed considerably normal. There was a white bookcase up against the wall filled with books. The only things he didn't recognize were the piles of thin, black rectangles with white strips on them (A/N: Tapes with stickers to write the name of whatever's on them – movie tapes). He decided not to worry about what those were, either.

There was a bureau, atop which sat the TV and boxes, a chair at the desk, and a wide, low wooden box on the floor in the corner full of different items. He noticed three small doors on one of the walls, determining that they must be her closets. At least, he thought they were. . .they were only about three or four feet high. He wasn't going to check, just in case he was wrong and there was something like a toilet in there.

He lay down on the bed and put his face in one of the pillows, breathing in her scent that covered it. He smiled at the wonderful smell that filled his senses and closed his eyes briefly. When he opened them, he noticed the small nightstand by the bed and moved over towards it, pulling open the top drawer.

There was an assortment of notebooks and pens, and that was about it. There was one smaller black book with a red spiral design that caught his attention. He snatched it up, opening the cover. _Wonder what this is_, he thought, reading the beginning of the first page.

His unspoken question was answered instantly; it was her diary. This was something he recognized – he knew women often kept diaries to write down events that happened, or other things; whatever they wanted, really. Maybe she had written about him in here. . .after all, it seemed that he was here in this world as well as in his own. . . He couldn't fathom how it was possible, but again, he barely understood what was going on. Should he read more? It was her diary. . .but he was just looking to see if she had said anything about him, that was all. Then he'd put it right back.

He flipped through the lined pages, not really sure of what to look for that would show any indication.

He stopped abruptly at the sight of "Johnny" on one page. Hadn't he heard that name before? He had been called it; at least he thought he had. Maybe that's who he was in this world. Johnny. . .Depp, he read. That was his name here? That was who he was? He read the entry slowly:

_7/23/03_

_I saw Pirates of the Caribbean today. It was SO good! It's now my favorite move ever! Jack Sparrow (played by Johnny Depp) is SO hott!!! He's the only guy I know of that actually looks good with makeup on. He wears eyeliner and things like that in the movie, and he has long hair, and he's dressed as a pirate (of course), and throughout the movie his shirt is open like halfway and he just looks so HOTT! I found a bunch of pictures of him on the internet yesterday. The movie's so good that I could watch it 10 times and not get sick of it. It's got this really cool sword fight scene between Jack and Will Turner (Johnny and Orlando Bloom). And it's funny - Jack (Johnny) is SO funny in the movie. And another thing that makes Johnny hott in the movie is the accent. Definitely the accent. Oh yeah. I am SO buying that movie when it comes out!_

He closed the diary, placing it back and shutting the drawer. So he had to be Johnny Depp. . .she had described him! But makeup? He wore kohl around his eyes. . .was that makeup to her? He wondered what "hott" could mean. From the way she wrote it, it seemed in some relation to "sexy" – at least in his mind. He found himself grinning widely as he slid off the bed.

"Maybe we have to, like, be at the theater," Julie suggested.

"And then what?" Ariana questioned scornfully, a hint that she wasn't taking very well to that idea.

"I dunno, we – wait for it to suck him back in, I guess." She shrugged.

"Uh huh. And if that was all we had to do, don't you think that that would've happened when we were there before?" She raised her eyebrows.

"Well, yeah, I guess, but. . ."

Ariana sighed. "Maybe there's something we have to find, or say, or have, or _something_. It just can't be that easy. Nothing is ever that easy."

"Yup," Kelsey agreed. "Maybe, like, a spell, or an incantation, or something like that. Or maybe there's another medallion somewhere."

"How do you know?" Julie asked skeptically.

"I _don't_ know. But we should at least check, just to make sure. I get they'd have medallions and stuff like that in books."

An idea promptly hit Ariana, her eyed widening in realization as she said excitedly, "Oh! That's it! That is it!" She received strange looks from her two friends due to the fact that she was now waving her arms around wildly.

"What? What is it?" Kelsey asked.

"The library! We go to the library, we find the medallion that they had back then in the 17th or 18th century, whenever it was, and it might tell us where to find it or something!" Her voice rose with anticipation.

There was silence for a few moments before Kelsey said, "Okay, but what do we do when we find it? _If _we find it?"

"We bring it to the movie theater! It's gotta be the key to getting us back, or at least getting Jack back!"

The other two girls nodded, speaking their agreement before all three turned and walked into the living room, a triumphant smile on Ariana's face.

Jack was still sprawled out on the couch where they had left him. When he looked at Ariana, she saw a twinkle in his eye that she found she liked.

"Come on," she told him, grabbing the remote and shutting off the TV. "We're going to the library."

**A/N**: I haven't updated lately because of school, of course. –shudder- I HATE school. . . Review please! I hope you liked the chapter; another reason why it's taken so long is because I had a little trouble coming up with the plot!


	21. Library

Pirates of the Caribbean could only belong to me if I was Disney. And I'm not. The same thing goes for Jack Sparrow. . .damn. . .

Chapter Twenty-One

Jack did not want to go to the library. He wanted to stay at the house and explore some more – as long as it wasn't near any more toilets. He wanted to go back up to Ariana's room, especially after she had told him _why_ they were going to the library. Going there meant they would have a chance of finding out where the medallion was now, and _that_ meant that once they retrieved it he would be sent back, and he didn't know if Ariana wanted to come back with him – or if her friends would let her. He couldn't go back without her.

"Do we have to go _now_?" he begged. "Couldn't we just stay here, wait a bit?"

"No, Jack, I really wanna stay here too, but we just can't. This isn't your world; it's not where you belong, and you need to get back to your world, no matter how much we both want you to stay here," she told him gently. "It would be too hard to keep you here anyway. Everyone would be asking questions, and they would eventually find out that you're not Johnny Depp. And that would _not_ be a good thing, trust me."

_I belong with you. _"Well do you think it's possible for you to come with me when I go back?" His eyebrows rose in expectation of her answer.

She looked directly into his eyes for several frozen moments before responding quietly, "I don't know. I honestly don't know. But. . .I hope so."

The two other girls who had been silent up to this point were taken aback by their friend's last statement, shock registering on their faces. She wanted to just up and leave to go into a movie? She was willing to leave all her friends, and her family, to go and live in another world. Neither could understand. They knew she was in love; that was obvious, but. . .she couldn't just abandon her entire life!

"You hope so?" Kelsey questioned Ariana, her eyebrows shooting up.

Ariana looked at her two friends for a few moments, contemplating what to say. "I don't want to talk about that right now. Can we please just talk about it later? Please? We have more important things to deal with."

She opened the door and headed through the porch out to the car before anyone could reply.

It took five minutes to reach the library. Once inside, they made for the service counter immediately, sending Jack off to an inconspicuous corner where he would not be seen.

"Um, excuse me," Ariana said to the woman behind the counter, who was typing something on a computer. She looked up. "Could you tell me where to find books on ancient artifacts, such as medallions and things like that?"

"Right over there," the woman told her, pointing to her right at the fourth row of books.

"Thank you." As they walked over, Jack silently joined them when the librarian turned back to her work. They began puling out books on the 17th and 18th centuries.

About a minute later Julie spoke up. "Hey, I found a bunch, you guys."

Ariana came over to her and took some books from the shelf near which she was standing. She opened the first, which had artifacts from the 17th century, and began slowly skimming the pages to the back of the book. She tried the next, which was another 17th century portrayal. She searched and found nothing throughout the entire book. She cursed under her breath and retrieved a third. Her friends were doing the same.

"Oh! I found it!" Julie burst out animatedly, nearly bouncing up and down at her discovery.

"What? Where?" Ariana snapped her head around and practically jumped on Julie, snatching the book and looking at the page. "This isn't the medallion." She lost any energy she had possessed.

"Yes it is," Julie insisted.

"No it's not. The medallion had a treasure chest, two swords, and drops of blood. This one has just a treasure chest on it." She showed her friend, who took the book back without a word, but started searching again.

Ariana returned to her book and opened it back up. She had scanned a few pages when she spotted a golden circle on the glossy paper, and she stilled instantly to inspect it. She sighed silently when she realized it wasn't the medallion, and continued. She caught sight of another gold circle, this one familiar. She stopped abruptly. This was it! This was the medallion! She read the caption beside it and saw that it had no important information. She swore using a much worse word than before, and shut the book with a slam. This startled the other three, whose heads sprang up from their books to look at her.

"Well, I found the medallion," she told them.

"You did?" Kelsey said.

"Oh yeah. I also found that the damn book says nothing about it that's useful in any way."

"What? Lemme see," Kelsey said, reaching for the book. Ariana handed it to her.

"It's on page fifty. You're not going to find anything." An idea suddenly hit her. The computer! Maybe it didn't say anything useful because it was a book, and therefore couldn't be updated unless it was written all over again. But the computer had to have something.

She rushed past the other three, nearly tripping on her way to the computers as they followed her and stood beside her as she took a seat at one of the machines. It was already on, and so she opened the Internet and typed in . In the search bar she typed in the name of the medallion that the book had given (the only worthy piece of knowledge), and within seconds the websites found appeared on the page. She waited for Jack to say something, but he never did. She dismissed it and clicked the third link, which brought her to a page that showed a picture of the medallion and paragraphs of information beneath it. She scrolled down, eventually coming to one titled "Where to find it" and eagerly reading it.

"Where did you get the name from?" Julie inquired.

"The book." Then, causing her friends to jump, she exclaimed suddenly, "The museum! The medallion's at the musem, the one that's only fifteen or twenty minutes away! We can go there! Come on!" She exited out of the Internet and shot out of the chair, almost barreling into Kelsey. She realized Jack had wandered off when she did not see him.

"How are you going to get the medallion out of the museum?" Julie asked her. Ariana ignored her and began searching for Jack.

Kelsey couldn't help wondering why Ariana seemed so excited about any of this; the sooner they got hold of the medallion, the sooner Jack would be gone. Was she planning something?

After hunting through half the library, Ariana finally found Jack at a small, one-person bathroom. He opened the door, not noticing her advancing, and the moment he caught sight of the toilet, his eyes widened to the size of dinner plates. He turned and bolted in the other direction.

Ariana couldn't help but laugh as she quietly called, "Jack!"

He halted, turning around to face her. "I hate toilets."

She smiled. "I know you do. Come on, we found out where the medallion is."

She took his hand and began walking, but he pulled her back and gave her a long, passionate kiss. She did not wish to leave that spot for anything in the world, but she knew she had to. Once he pulled away, a small grin on his face, she grinned back and started to head towards the front entrance, where Kelsey and Julie were waving them over.

**A/N**: Okay, I know this is the shortest chapter I've written so far, but now I think I kinda have the whole plot done in my head, so it's all just a matter of finding the time to type it all up! Review please!


	22. Museum

Pirates of the Caribbean! Still not mine! Jack Sparrow! Still not mine! It's just not fair. . .

Chapter Twenty-Two

Ariana pulled into a spot in the parking lot near the museum and turned the car off, shoving the keys in her pocket. This time, though fumbling with the task, Jack managed to unbuckle himself and open his door. Ariana gave a small smile at this and as he was about to get out, she put a hand on his arm, silently telling him to stay put.

"Okay, before anyone gets out of the car, we have to make a plan. Now, we basically have two options: We can pretend that Jack is Johnny, and use him as a way to get the museum to give us the medallion, or we can try to steal it. What do you wanna do?" She was hoping that they did not choose the latter option – God knows Kelsey had experience in that area – because what if they were caught? Everything would be completely ruined – no medallion; police. Not good.

"Uh, how will Jack going in as Johnny help us get the medallion?" Julie questioned.

"Because we can make up something – you know, like he wanted to borrow it for – for a movie or something. Yeah, he needs it as a prop for a movie."

"What movie? And why would he use real, valuable gold like that when he could just get some fake gold-painted thing?" Kelsey said, suddenly the voice of reason. She did have a point.

"A movie in the making. He doesn't know the name of it yet, but the medallion is the center focus, and they want it to be real." As the thoughts came to her, the words just spilled from her mouth.

"Why can't we just steal it?" Jack asked, completely serious.

Ariana gave a dry laugh. "Things aren't as simple here as they are in your world, Jack," she told him. "Here they have police and detectives and all sorts of people who can track you down and get you, and it's not so easy to just take and escape. They can track your license plate, they can get your fingerprints; there's tons of things they can do.:

"License plate?" he echoed, confusion etched onto his face.

"It's just a thing they put on all cars. Don't worry about it. What I'm saying is that it's really risky to try to steal it. I don't think it's a good idea."

"The five finger discount can work," Kelsey put in. "I should know."

"Matt and you sure had a lot of fun, didn't ya?" Her tone reeked of sarcasm.

"Stupid loser," Kelsey said of her ex-boyfriend.

"I think it's a good idea," Jack said.

"Too bad." Ariana turned to her two friends. "Come on, you guys, think! We need ideas here!"

She was answered with annoyed looks. Kelsey just rolled her eyes and continued her thought process. Ariana sighed.

"I got it!" Julie exclaimed, her head snapping up, her eyes wide. Ariana jumped slightly in surprise, almost falling backwards into the door.

"What?"

"We can tell them that he wants the medallion to study!"

Ariana's eyes narrowed as she shook her head. "What exactly would he need to study it for?"

Julie's brow furrowed and she sat back, now aware of the part of her plan that she forgot.

"How about I try to make a bargain with them?" Jack suggested. "I'm good at that." He grinned.

"You may be, but again, that's in your world, not ours. Ours is a lot different."

"Yes, I can see that. But I still think I may be able to cut a deal with them."

"I don't think so. Trust me Jack, people who work in museums don't just hand over their merchandise. The things in there are worth millions of dollars."

Jack's eyes lit up. "Millions?"

She knew exactly where his train of thought was heading. "Don't even think about it. You're not taking anything."

His face fell. "But it would only be a few little things – "

"No."

He sighed. There was no use arguing with her; he knew that by now. She would not give up.

"Maybe we can tell them that he wants to borrow it to show someone or something," Kelsey proposed.

Ariana's face took on a look of contemplation. "Actually, that might work. . . We just have to think of exactly what to say, and make it something believable. Maybe we could say that he wanted to borrow it to show. . .his friend who's in a new movie with him. Maybe he asked to see it."

"I don't know. . ." Julie said doubtingly, her forehead creasing.

"What do you not know?"

"Well. . . It just seems weird, I mean, why couldn't his friend just come and look at it himself?"

"Maybe he can't."

"I agree with Julie," Kelsey said. "She has a point."

It was at that moment an idea struck Ariana, filling her with hope. "How 'bout we have Jack distract everyone so that we can steal it?"

"That could work," Kelsey replied, now interested. "What do we use to break the glass? It's sure to be in a glass box or counter or something." She paused. "What happened to you not wanting to steal it?"

"Only choice we have that could work. We have to be as quiet as we can. Maybe if it's in a glass counter, we can get the keys from the person at the counter while Jack distracts them, open the counter, and take it out. Who's the best at that kind of thing?"

"I think I can do it," Kelsey said. Ariana nodded; she knew that Julie would not be able to. She had never been good at things that involved doing anything wrong.

"Okay, we gotta go in through somewhere where no one'll see Jack. Oh, and I think that your clothing might attract a bit of attention." She looked down at his attire as he grinned. "Luckily, my dad has some old clothes in the trunk. He was going to take them to the Salvation Army, but he forgot."

"Salvation Army?" Jack repeated questioningly.

"Yeah, it's a place where you can take your old clothes you don't want anymore and give them away."

Without another word, she opened the door and got out, walking to the trunk and pushing it upwards to reveal several large, stuffed trash bags. She opened one and took out a pair of jeans and a white dressy shirt, then shut the trunk and carried them back to the car, getting in.

"Here, wear these." She handed them to him.

It was then that she remember about his hair and makeup.

She took a hair tie from her wrist and told Jack to turn around. When he did, she scooped up his messy braids, pulling them all into a tight ponytail. She then removed the red bandana and tied it again, making sure to cover everything she could. It hid most of his hair except for the ponytail. That did not matter much, however – no one in front of him would be able to see it, and doubted anyone would be watching Johnny Depp's backside when his front was right there. She snatched a tissue from the glove compartment and wheeled him back around, then carefully wiped the kohl from his eyes. She stuffed the tissue in her pocket, barely realizing she had done it. Maybe she could get something to cover the ponytail too. . .

She exited the car once more and headed to the trunk. After rummaging through much of the clothing, she finally produced a plain blue hat. _Perfect_, she thought, closing the trunk and clambering in to the car. She put it on his head backwards, so that it covered the ponytail. But then his entire face was out in the open, and whether he was wearing normal clothes or not, people would notice. She turned it around so that half his face was now covered in shadow. She delicately undid the bands holding his beard in two twists, combing it all out with her fingers as best she could. She placed the bands and beads in her pocket.

"One more thing," she said, reaching into the glove compartment a second time and producing a pair of dark sunglasses. She put them on him. "Okay, you get dressed, we'll wait outside the car."

As Kelsey and Julie got out, Ariana was about to follow them when Jack grabbed her arm.

"You know, I wouldn't mind if you stayed in the car with me, love." He grinned, and she melted.

"Um, I – I think I should – stay. . .outside with Kelsey and Julie." He released her, allowing her to step out into the sun.

A few minutes later he emerged from the inside of the car, fully clad in Ariana's dad's old apparel, bandana and hat on his head, hair tied back, goatee unbraided, and sunglasses on. The girls look him up and down. He looked normal.

"These are the strangest trousers I've eva' worn. Or seen, for that matta'," he stated, looking down at himself. "And what is this dark thing over my eyes?"

"Those are called sunglasses, Jack. They protect your eyes from the sun," Ariana told him. _I feel so smart every time I have to explain something to him. It's great._

"But I spend all day in the sun, and I've neva' needed anything like this."

She eyed his nicely tanned skin. "Yeah, well, first of all, where you come from, sunglasses haven't been invented yet, and second of all, they're not killing you, so get used to them. They're to help you not be noticed – since they're so dark they hide your eyes."

"All right. . ."

"Okay, he looks fine, we just have to make sure that no one sees him from behind, in case they figure out who he is, or who they think he is, because then they'll see the black ponytail. Also, no one can see him with us, we split from him when we find it."

Her two friends nodded and so did she as all four turned to walk to the entrance.

The museum was gigantic, like one of those buildings you only see in movies about the rich people living in big cities. They couldn't help but gaze around at everything – there were artifacts, statues, jewelry. . . They slowly moved forward, now searching for the medallion. Jack made sure to keep his head down and walk slightly away from them, in case anyone saw them, having had experience with trying to sneak around unrecognized. Julie stayed behind him a few paces and kept his hair from being seen.

They scoured the entire first enormous room, the process taking several minutes considering its size. Jack searched nowhere near them since there was someone else in the room who eventually left. They found nothing.

They headed to the room on the right, finding it scarce of anything important as well. They doubled back into a different room, this one fairly small compared to the others. Ariana caught a glint of gold in her peripheral vision and snapped her head around to look.

The medallion. At least she hoped it was. She walked closer and saw that it was in a glass case, on a velvet black pillow. _Damn. Well at least we found it._

She turned around. "We have to get someone who works here; they'll have the keys," she said in as quiet a voice as she could manage.

"You mean it's locked?" Kelsey said, then swore.

"Come on," Ariana took Jack's hand, leading him from the room. Soon they spotted someone who was wearing something one might call a uniform; dress pants with a white shirt and tie, and a golden nametag that she did not bother reading. He was not looking at either of them.

"Okay, you go over there and start talking to him about anything; just think of something, okay? And nothing that will give you away, got it? Maybe you could talk to him about some of the pieces he has in _this_ room." She stressed the word, hinting not to let the guard get near the room with the medallion.

He nodded to show he understood, keeping his eye on the rather plump man.

"Okay, good. I'm going to have Kelsey come up behind him and take his keys while you're talking to him. Don't stop until you see us waving at you, okay?"

He nodded again and she left to the other room. She let Kelsey know that everything was ready, and explained to her what she had to do. She went out the opposite way, therefore ending up behind the man, who was conversing with jack about something or other.

She silently snuck up behind him, noticing that Jack did not show any hint of shifting his gaze to even quickly glance at her. _Done this before, have we?_ When she reached the man, she reached out her hand slowly, unhooking the key ring little by little until it came loose, holding all the keys so that they made no noise as she worked. Even slower she lifted them slightly, pulling them back towards her until they were safely out of his range of vision. Then she turned and slinked away.

"Got 'em." She held them up before her friends as she entered the room, grinning.

"Nice. Okay, open up the case," Ariana said.

She tried each key, seeing which one worked. After failing with almost every one, she heard the satisfying click and swung the small glass door open. She hesitated.

"Alarms," Ariana stated, reading her mind. "I think they only go off if you actually break the glass or something, not if you open it with a key."

"Yeah, and I think those are only set at night anyway," Julie informed them. "When no one's here, and when most of the robberies usually happen."

Ariana nodded in agreement as Kelsey reached in and grabbed the medallion from the pillow. Relief shone on her face when nothing happened. She shut the door and handed the piece of gold to Ariana, who put it in her pocket.

"Hold on a second," Kelsey told them. She took the key ring, once more closing her hand over the dangling keys, and left.

Jack and the man were still talking when she entered the room, moving without sound. She knew it was too risky to try and attach them back onto his pants, so she quietly placed them on the ground near his foot. Maybe he would think he had dropped them somehow. Maybe he wouldn't even notice until much later. She headed back.

A few moments after, in back of the man, Jack could see waving arms in the distance and did not waste any time looking.

Ariana saw him say something to the man, who nodded, and then Jack casually walked away. He moved toward the entrance but away from the three girls, so as not to draw any attention to them, incase anyone was looking. They went silently back through the other room, leaving the building through the back since there were detectors at the front. The back entrance was locked from the inside, so they could get out, and did not have any detecting system except for cameras, which they made sure to walk by at a time when they moved to point away from them.

"Were there cameras in that room?" Ariana asked when they were outside. "I didn't even think to look."

"Yeah," Julie answered. "But we were in a sort of – hidden spot. The cameras never moved to us."

"Oh thank God. We'd be screwed." _Just luck. . ._

Jack was waiting by his door when they reached the car. Ariana pulled her keys from her pocket, unlocking the vehicle and getting inside. Once they were all in, it was all she could do not to peel away from the parking lot and down the street.

The large anchor hit the water with a splash, sinking rapidly to the bottom, and the Black Pearl came to a stop. Gibbs set about preparing a rowboat while Will spoke to the crew.

"Everyone stay here. We'll only be gone a short while; we have something important we must take care of. Watch the ship, just in case, and do not move any closer to shore." He was not sure if anyone would listen to him; after all, he was not even part of the crew.

They all turned to Gibbs to confirm Will's orders. The plump man nodded.

Will moved to Elizabeth, who was standing beside the railing. "You may come if you wish. It's your decision. It won't take long."

"I will come. I did not sail all the way out here for nothing." She gave a slight laugh.

The two climbed into the rowboat with Gibbs, and they were lowered down into the water. Will immediately began rowing toward shore.

They reached the soft sand of the beach less than five minutes later, pulling the small boat up so that it would not float away.

"It's a miracle you remembered how to get here," Will told Gibbs.

"'Ey, I only jus' sailed wif Jack here a short while ago. I'm jus' thankful we weren't attacked on the water."

"Oh God, that would have been dreadful," Elizabeth said. "At least most of Jack's crew is somewhat decent and would not just treat me like some strumpet." _Damn anyone who does._

They soon spotted the cave not far off and, upon reaching it, cautiously walked inside. Will saw the enormous doors first and quickened his pace.

"Is that it?" he questioned Gibbs, not shifting his gaze.

"Aye. We gotta find somethin', anythin' that'll 'elp." There's gotta be somethin' 'ere." He looked around curiously.

The sound a gun being cocked echoed behind them, causing them to whip around in alarm.

Captain Shallows stood, his pistol directed at them and a smirk on his face.

"Ye thought ya could get rid o' me that easy, did ye?" he said, slightly tilting his head.

**A/N**: Haha! Cliffhanger! Aren't I evil? Bet you're all on the edge now! How did Captain Shallows come back, you wonder? Stay tuned and find out! This chapter was nice and long, don't you just love me?


	23. Guess Who's Back

Still don't own Pirates of the Caribbean. . .or Jack Sparrow. . . **backs away slowly** Don't sue. . .

Chapter Twenty-Three

"Shallows!" Gibbs exclaimed, shock and bewilderment evident in his voice. Will's hand automatically flew to the hilt of his sword, prepared to battle not only for himself and Gibbs but for Elizabeth's safety as well.

"Ah, do you really want ta be doin' that, lad? After all, I be the one with the pistol, an' a sword won't stop a bullet."

Will refrained from pulling his sword out, though his hand remained on the hilt, just itching to start something, as he stared at the man before him. "Who are you?"

Shallows grinned, amusement flickering in his eyes. "Why, ah be Cap'n Shallows! Ya 'aven't 'heard o' me, I take it?"

Will narrowed his eyes. "No." He would admit, in truth, he actually knew of very few captains, and Shallows was not one of them.

"Ah, well, not much of a surprise, really, ya livin' where ya do. Yer kind don't really care fer pirates, so obviously ya wouldn't know much about 'em, or of 'em."

"I know of pirates. But I've never heard of you." His gaze shot ice, it was so cold.

"An' that's a shame, that is. But I take it ya've 'eard of Jack Sparrow?" Something dangerous flashed in his eyes.

It was a few moments before Will replied. "Yes. Why?" Suspicion registered in his tone.

"No reason, really." He had noticed Gibbs staring at him in utter disbelief and now shifted his gaze to him, wondering if the man was about to start drooling from the fact that his mouth had been hanging open as well. "I'm guessin' yer wonderin' 'ow I'm alive?"

"Aye. It aint possible." Gibbs narrowed his eyes.

"Ah, but ya see, that's where yer wrong. '_Tis_ possible."

"An' 'ow's 'at?"

"Well, ya see – that medallion that I 'ad that ya stole was connected ta me in a way, since I was the one who took it outta the doors an' used it. So after yer cap'n shot me, he musta smashed the medallion to get the girls back, am I right?"

Gibbs glared at Shallows, and, after realizing the other man was waiting for a reply, said, "Aye. . ."

"Well, when 'e smashed it, it brought me back. I think it kind of worked in reverse – if ya'd smashed it when I was alive, it woulda killed me, so this way, if I'm dead, it'd bring me back. So then I followed ya 'ere on a different route. I knew ya wouldn't bring yer whole crew in 'ere just ta find a medallion."

"You mean to say that you were brought back from the dead?" Elizabeth spoke up in incredulity, finally finding her voice.

Shallows eyed her up and down. "Aye, lass."

"Well – that's interesting. . ." She sounded suddenly out of breath.

"Well now if we kill you – again – you'll be dead for good, won't you?" Will said, his hand still on the handle of his sword and his fingers now getting a stronger grip.

"Now why would I answer that?" Shallows replied. "So ya can try an' kill me? Well what if I don't die?"

"What if you do?"

Shallows' eyes narrowed in irritation. "Don't test me patience, lad. Remember, I've got the pistol."

Will knew the only way out of this was to fight. After all, he was correct – he had the gun. He could easily kill all three of them in less than three seconds. Or just kill him and Gibbs and take Elizabeth. . . He would not allow his thoughts to go there. "Do you really think that's fair?"

"Why wouldn't it be?"

"Well, as you said, you have the pistol, and I have the sword. How can we properly duel if you've already got the upper hand?"

Shallows studied him for several moments, apparently thinking over his words and determining whether or not to put away his firearm. After what felt like an eternity, he said, "I suppose yer right. It can at least be a fair fight. But if I win, I get ta take that fine lass ya got with ya." He grinned as he eyed Elizabeth again.

She cut her eyes at him, disgusted. "You're not taking me anywhere."

"If I win, I believe I am. Isn't that right, lad?" He turned back to Will.

Will looked at his love, then back at Shallows. "Is that the only deal we can make?"

Shallows put on a look of mock contemplation. "Aye, I think it is."

"There's nothing else you want? Not the gold behind the doors?"

"I can already get inta that, lad."

Will made a quick decision and flicked his gaze to Gibbs, who caught his eye. Will then swiftly glanced at Elizabeth, then back to Gibbs. The older man nodded, understanding.

If Will did not make it, he wanted Gibbs to take Elizabeth and get to the ship as fast as possible.

Will's eyes landed back on Shallows in less than two seconds, and the other man apparently had not caught Will's silent message.

"Fine. If you win, you get Elizabeth." Just saying the words killed him inside.

"What?" Elizabeth spun to face him. "Will, what are you saying?" He would not actually just hand her over to this man, would he? He would never. . .

Will turned to her, leaning in towards her face. Her back was to Shallows. He made it appear as if he were kissing her, but instead whispered, "If I am not to survive, go with Gibbs." He then pressed his lips to hers momentarily before stepping towards Shallows stiffly.

The captain possessed a smug look as he grasped the hilt of his sword with his free hand. "Ready?"

Will drew in a deep, silent breath. "Yes." He attempted to mentally prepare himself as best he could.

Shallows returned the pistol to its holster, pulling out his sword so swiftly that Will was taken aback for just a moment. He too unsheathed his weapon and brought it up into the air just in time to block a sideways swing.

The two other people in the cave watched as the men moved around, swinging, blocking, and swiping, the sound of metal against metal ringing in their ears. At one point, Will almost lost his footing, and Elizabeth was forced to keep herself from racing to his side.

After at least ten minutes of this, with no sign of either man letting up, Shallows suddenly shoved Will up against the tremendous stone doors, the sharpened blade of his sword held against Will's with such force that had Will moved, he would have scraped his skin on the rock behind him. Shallows was much stronger than he had assumed.

"I'm gonna enjoy killin' ya," Shallows told him. "And ya wanna know what I'm gonna enjoy even more?" He smirked as he looked at Elizabeth, letting Will draw his own conclusions. "An' those three li'le _brats_." Upon saying the last word, he shoved his sword harshly against Will's even more, and this time Will felt a piece of the rock jab painfully into his back.

Nevertheless, a look of utter abhorrence and fury lessened the otherwise good looks of Will's face at Shallow's words – and gestures. He thrust with all the strength he could muster together, trying to get the larger man away from him. He even let out a horrible, enraged roar.

He would kill him. He would murder this disgusting, vile man who thought he had the right to do **_anything_** to his beloved, or those three girls. He was a monster straight from the pits of hell.

"Ah, does that make ya mad?" Shallows said, even laughing in twisted amusement. "Too bad. It'll be a lot more fun fer me than fer you." He grinned. "And now, for the fun ta begin!"

He was about to push away when abruptly his face took on a startled look, his eyes wide and his mouth partly open as if something had horrified him. His breathing seemed to stop short suddenly, and that was when Will looked down and noticed the tip of a blade sticking out from his stomach, just a small glint of silver shining with fresh blood that dripped to the ground and soaked into the dirt. Will was surprised it did not burn a hole.

It was pulled out, sending Shallows crumpling near Will's feet. The young man looked up to see Gibbs standing there, gripping his sword, which Will saw was covered halfway with the dark red substance.

"I don' think he'll be comin' back this time," he said with a small smile.

Will returned it. "Thank you."

"Don' mention it. He was startin' ta get ta me. Couldn' just leave ya like that, not when I had the perfect chance." He took a piece of cloth from his belt and wiped his sword as clean as possible, then sheathed it. Will put his weapon away as well, barely getting it back in his scabbard before Elizabeth barreled into him, her arms so tight around his middle that he thought he might just burst.

"Thank God you're all right! I thought he was going to kill you!"

"He was." Will eyed Gibbs.

Elizabeth released the death grip on Will and faced Gibbs. "Thank you." She gave a warm smile.

"Ah, don' mention it," he repeated, waving his hand nonchalantly with a small smile in return.

Will looked at the corpse lying on the ground near the stone doors. "All right, let's see if there's anything here that will help Jack."

They began searching every possible inch of ground, going over every single spot twice – but they found nothing. Will was prepared to give up when his eyes caught a glint of gold in his peripheral vision.

He turned sharply.

There was nothing there.

His brow furrowed in confusion as he walked slowly toward the doors, where he was certain he had seen it. He looked all around – he could have sworn there was gold here somewhere. He KNEW there was. But he had already checked this spot. _Oh well_, he thought. _Why not try again?_

He began at the very top of the rocky wall and slowly let his eyes travel down, carefully searching. Near the middle he thought he saw the flash of gold once more. His eyes quickly flew to that area – nothing. He moved closer. Wait. . .there was something there. . . Yes! It was a medallion.

He wanted to jump up and down in his excitement as he reached out, clutching the golden chain that hung down from it. He pulled strongly, and the medallion eventually dropped down out of the stone. He seized it.

It had a picture of a treasure chest with two swords crossed over it, with drops of blood coming down.

"I found it!" he exclaimed, the other two at his side instantly. "I think this is what we need to use to get Jack back."

Gibbs eyes the medallion closely. "That looks like the same thing that was on the other medallion, the one that Jack smashed." A look of perplexity took to his face. "Only this one looks. . .different. . .sorta. . .like it's upside down er somethin'. . ."

Sure enough, everything was indeed switched, even though it was a circle.

"Well that would make sense," Elizabeth began to explain. "If the other medallion was right side up, with the same picture, and it. . .brought the three girls here. . .and smashing it caused Jack to vanish into thin air, then obviously the medallion which does the opposite would be the opposite of the other medallion, which would be the same picture upside down."

Gibbs appeared absolutely mystified, while Will seemed to still be processing the information. Elizabeth only shook her head and asked, "So do either of you know if there would be an incantation or something of that sort that has to be read?"

"There might be," Will answered. "On the doors."

He turned, striding to the gigantic stone structures, once again examining them. He thought he spotted some writing over to his left, but when he checked, it was gone. He looked over the entire right side and was ready to admit to failure when he caught a glimpse of a line of words and moved even closer in order to get a better look. He bent forward.

"All right, here we are," he said a minute later. Elizabeth and Gibbs were already focusing on him.

He gripped the medallion in his hand as he read aloud the words written into the stone, not completely sure of what to expect. He waited.

Nothing happened.

**A/N**: Well, I finally updated! Hope you like it! This is another cliffhanger! MWAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!


	24. I'll Find A Way

Again, I still don't own Pirates of the Caribbean, still don't own Jack Sparrow. And I still wish I did. . .

Blue Jedi Hobbit 009: No, I don't fence. I just used what I had seen in movies and whatnot, and a few of my own ideas for the sword fighting training.

_**ATTENTION EVERYONE – READ THIS: I WILL BE CHANGING MY USERNAME TO JOHNNYDEPPFANATIC12**_. Just so everyone knows, so that you'll still be able to find me on here.

Chapter Twenty-Four

Ariana drove down, slow and hesitant, into the parking lot of the movie theater. She did not want to be here. She wanted to go back home and pretend it all had never happened; Jack could be just another normal guy, the movie could be just another movie.

Her memory would have to be erased for that to happen.

She had spent the entire car ride fighting with both sides of her mind – the one telling her to stay where her life was, and the other telling her to break free. What was so bad about a life of piracy?

What was so good about it?

Jack. . .

What was so bad about her life?

What was so good about it?

Family. . .friends. . .

Visions of her entire childhood up to that day flashed in her mind.

Birthday parties. . . Time-out. . . Writing short little stories in her room all day. . . Driving up to Maine with her parents and her friend. . . Being yelled at in school by the teachers for starting another fight. . . Going swimming. . . Her first kiss. . . Starting high school and feeling small and helpless. . . Receiving her first guitar in seventh grade. . . Trips with – friends.

Millions atop millions of memories surfaced of her, Kelsey, and Julie that swam around in her head. . .or maybe it was the tears that were threatening to come. She held them in with all the strength she could find.

She felt feeble and weak as she threw open the glove compartment upon the departure of the other three people from the car. She reached inside and withdrew a picture of her, Kelsey, and Julie that had been taken earlier that summer. Knowing the picture of her and her parents was in her wallet, safely tucked in her pocket, she folded it in half and put it in her pocket. _Thank God I never remembered to put that in my scrapbook_, she thought as she got out of the car, making sure to take the keys with her.

As she reluctantly walked across the pavement she could see Jack looking at her in her peripheral vision, but she paid no attention. She was focused on taking in every single thing around her; every rock, every tree, every building. She would never allow herself to forget any of it. Ever.

They reached the doors and went inside, Ariana's eyes gazing at everything once again, attempting to burn it into her brain. Jack noticed but remained silent.

Her mind felt ready to explode as they moved through the doorway into the theater. She felt as if she was not walking down the long red carpet between the rows of seats, toward the huge screen that loomed before her. She was not leaving everything behind. She was not tearing her friends, her family, her life, apart.

The other three stopped and so she managed to as well, though she would have rather just fled through the exit doors and never stop.

"Okay, so what do we do now?" Kelsey's voice penetrated her brain.

She forced herself to snap back to reality, though it was immensely difficult. "Um. . . Maybe we could just hold the medallion up in front of the screen?" She was too mentally paralyzed to think of anything at the moment except what she was preparing to do.

"How would _that_ work?"

"Um. . . I don't know, but I can't really think of anything right now. . ." She knew she sounded distant and faraway – the same way she felt.

Kelsey hit her arm. "Hey. Stop spacin' out."

She barely winced; barely even blinked. "Sorry. . ."

"Maybe there's something we have to say?" Julie suggested, though she sounded uncertain.

"Well, if there is, we don't know what it is," Kelsey said. "Maybe it's written on the medallion or something. Lemme see it."

Kelsey's request did not register in Ariana's mind for several seconds. She slowly reached into her pocket and pulled out the golden circle, handing it to her friend and feeling like she was reaching her arm out ten feet. She saw her examining every inch of it but did not feel any surge of hope or doubt.

About twenty seconds later she heard Kelsey's voice again, louder than usual, it seemed.

"There's nothing. I can't believe this. I stole the fucking thing out of a goddamn museum and there's _nothing_!" There was a pause. "All right, what's wrong with you?"

Ariana looked up to see Kelsey looking at her inquiringly.

"What do you mean?"

"You're acting like you're somewhere else. You're bein' weird!"

"No I'm not." She did not have the energy nor the will to fight.

"Yes you are!"

"No I'm not. I just can't think of anything. And besides, we're here to bring Jack back to his world. Do you expect me to be happy about that?" Her eyes showed no emotion whatsoever as she spoke; her tone was completely flat.

"No. But still, you're just spacing out and it's not really helping." Her voice reflected some sympathy that was mostly covered up.

_Well maybe I don't want to help._ _Maybe I don't want him to leave me._ She only sighed and shook her head.

"Why didn't it work?" Will burst out incredulously. "It should have worked!"

"I dunno, maybe you said it wrong?" Gibbs suggested, shrugging.

"I can read, in case you didn't know. I said it right!"

"Well 'ey, don' go getting' mad at me now. I wasn't insultin' ya."

"I know." He took a deep breath and looked at the ground. "I'm sorry. It's just that – Jack is a respected friend, and if he's in trouble, I want to help him."

"I know ya do, lad! I know! Maybe ya should try readin' it again."

"It could work," Elizabeth spoke up.

Will looked at her, then turned back to the doors.

"Let me see that," Jack said, reaching out for the medallion. Kelsey handed it to him and he began to look it over, Ariana joining him.

"Well, I don't think it says anything," he announced after a few moments.

"I already figured that out," Kelsey said.

Ariana knew it as time. She could not hold off any longer; now might be her last chance.

She looked at her two best friends for several moments, imprinting the image of them in her mind and not daring to look away. "Um. . .guys. . .I gave a lot – _a lot _– of thought to this, believe me, and it was painful. I think – that I want. . ." She quickly forced back the tears that were already welling up. ". . .to go – with Jack." Her stomach was in such a knot that she did not believe anything in the world could undo it. Her hands were beginning to sweat and she had an unpleasant taste in the back of her throat.

They both appeared stunned, especially Julie, whose mouth actually dropped open.

"What?" Kelsey gave her "the look", and she wanted to die right then.

"I just. . ." She searched for words, any at all. "I can't just let him leave me. I – I – " She found it so difficult to admit, and she was not entirely certain why. "I. . .love. . .Jack."

They stared at her in dazed silence for several seconds before Julie said, "So that means that you're just gonna leave? Just like that? What about your parents? School? _Us_, your friends? Your _LIFE_?"

Each second she was feeling worse and worse, like she did not deserve to live. She knew what she was going to the both of them, and she hated it and herself more than anything she had ever hated before.

"I thought about that, and. . .well. . .I just. . . I've found someone I truly love, who loves me back. And you know. . .he lives a live of adventure, and I – I've always wanted that, ever since I can remember. I mean, it's a chance for me to live my dream. He's the one, I can feel it. He's the only one for me. How can I let that go? If you two could come with me, you know I would take you in a heartbeat. . . I just – I'm so sorry." She looked down at the floor. She could not bring herself to face them, to see the hurt in their eyes. She saw a glint of something fall to the floor, and realized she had already begun crying without recognizing it.

Jack wrapped his arms around her and she leaned into him, burying her face in his shirt, her only source of concealment.

After muffled sniffles were heard, Kelsey said, "What are we gonna tell your parents? And what about Alix? Remember, we told her about how we won a contest and everything. I'm sure she's spread that around by now."

Ariana forced herself to pick her head up and look at them.

"I don't know. . . Tell my parents that. . . Tell them what I just told you. And tell them that I'm **_so_** sorry, with all my heart and soul, if I'm hurting them, which I know I am, because of this. And about Alix. . . I know you'll figure something out, won't you?" Her eyes pleaded for forgiveness though she knew she did not deserve any.

They did not reply. She felt worse than she ever had in her entire life, worse than her most horrible moment. She did not want to leave her life behind. But. . . Adventure, love. . . This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. She could not fathom even an ounce of how much she was wounding everyone who cared about her, and she did not want to imagine it. She felt more tears sliding from her eyes and she swiftly wiped them away. She looked at her friends and saw something that shocked her – tears were in Kelsey's eyes.

She had only ever seen Kelsey cry once or twice in the entire, long span she had known her and the sight was like a heavy sledgehammer swung right into her heart. Before she could say anything Kelsey had turned and walked down one of the rows. Julie was crying as well – her sniffles could easily be heard.

Ariana headed swiftly after Kelsey, never skipping a beat. The least she could do was try and console her.

She wrapped her arms around her from behind, silently breathing a sigh of relief when Kelsey did not push her away. She felt Kelsey's hands come up and grasp her arms tightly, as if she never wanted to let go.

"I'm sorry," Ariana whispered, her voice shaking.

Kelsey slowly turned to face her and embraced her, squeezing her tighter than anyone ever had before. "I would come with you," she whispered back. "You know I would. But I can't. . .I just can't."

Julie soon joined them, and the tears fell freely from three sets of eyes and torn hearts.

"Don't you forget me. Don't you forget. Don't you _ever_ forget," Ariana told them both, her soul ripping and her arms clutching them harder.

"Never," they both replied in unison.

"Don't you either," Kelsey told her. "Don't. . ."

"Never."

Several minutes later they broke apart, still remaining close to each other.

That was when Ariana felt it. The sensation that told her she was finally being taken from them, from everything she had ever known. She snapped her head toward the screen and regretfully saw that it was coming closer and closer, and she knew, and her heart broke into a million pieces that were scattered across space and time. She looked back at her two friends.

"I'll find a way! I'll find a way to come back! Believe me, I'll find a way!" Those were the last words they heard her say.

And then she and Jack were gone.

They stood there, two lone figures in the movie theater, just staring numbly at the large screen, the image of their best friend burned into their minds, hearts, and souls forever.

"She's gone," Julie said quietly; disbelievingly.

It was a while before Kelsey responded. She swallowed a lump in her throat. "I know."

"You think we'll ever see her again?"

Now Kelsey looked her straight in the eye. "We will. I know we will."

Julie seemed to be wondering about something. Kelsey noticed.

"What is it?" she asked.

"I was just remembering something. We smashed the medallion in the past. . .but it was whole in the museum when we got it." She paused and looked directly at Kelsey. "Who put it back together?"

**THE END**

**A/N**: It's finally finished!! WOOOOOHOOOOOO!!!! EVERYONE DANCE AND CELEBRATE!!!!!! **DANCES AROUND IN CIRCLES HOLDING A BOTTLE OF RUM**

I hope you all liked it! I'll be writing a sequel some time this millennium, don't worry, I just have to get around to it. . . JUST YOU WAIT!!!!!!


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